Portret van August Hennings 1799

Editor: So, this is a print from 1799, “Portret van August Hennings” by Friedrich Wilhelm Bollinger, held here at the Rijksmuseum. The delicate lines really give it this air of, well, quiet dignity. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: The symbols whisper of Hennings' world. He looks away from us and towards some undefined future. He's identified as "Königl. Dänischer Kammerherr", a Danish Royal Chamber. Those titles placed so carefully below the image work to locate this man within a specific historical context. Do you sense a link with power? How the image becomes a type of heraldry? Editor: I do now that you mention it. I was just caught up in the technical skill of the engraving, and the, almost severe, expression on his face. It’s such an objective likeness but do you think it conveys something more personal, a message about his aspirations? Curator: Perhaps. Neoclassicism valued rationality, and simplicity. See the austere clarity, how it attempts to reveal Hennings not just as an individual but as a type of civic leader? But look again. Doesn’t that averted gaze suggest something of the individual that official symbols obscure? It allows the viewer to become part of Hennings trajectory. Editor: So, while seemingly straightforward, the portrait hints at layers of identity, both public and private. It definitely feels like more than just a record of a man's face. Curator: Exactly. Every visual choice speaks, consciously or unconsciously. The work's beauty resides not just in what we see, but what it invites us to imagine, in cultural memory, the visual language itself, and Hennings place within the historic shift taking place at the turn of the century. Editor: I’ll certainly look closer at portraits now. Thanks!