Portret van Lucas Bacmeister op 50-jarige leeftijd 1757

This is Christian Fritzsch’s rendering of Lucas Backmeister, made with etching sometime in the first half of the 18th century. Backmeister looks out at us, clutching a book. It is important to consider the institutional context of portraiture in Northern Europe at this time, and the politics of its imagery. This portrait speaks to the rising status of religious leaders within German-speaking Europe. The book and clerical garb act as visual cues, signifying his status within the church and the intellectual tradition to which he belongs. The curtain and bookshelf add to the display of wealth and prestige. By the 18th century, the rise of the print market provided artists new opportunities to address a wider public. This image would have served to broadcast Backmeister's importance to his contemporaries, and cement his legacy for posterity. To understand this print better, we might dig into archives of the church. Only by looking into the prevailing social, political, and religious structures of the time, can we begin to understand its meaning and impact.