A Man with the Initials JD 1790

Curator: Looking at "A Man with the Initials JD" crafted around 1790 and currently residing here at the Met, what strikes you first about this diminutive portrait? Editor: The overall composure, and his outfit for sure! I am instantly drawn to his slightly tilted posture. I am curious about what his jacket is made out of and its texture must feel so plush. The way it has been crafted is also remarkable. Curator: Indeed! It's fascinating to consider this miniature within its historical context. Villers, the artist, working in this Neoclassical period, engages with ideas around identity and status in post-revolutionary France, using a very personal, intimate form of art. Editor: A miniature like this makes me wonder about the labor. Watercolor on ivory demands precision and patience. Consider the pigment production, the sourcing of the ivory itself—each step with its own implications of labor and exploitation! Was the gentleman portrayed the actual user of this product? I wonder about its purpose for the time... Curator: Exactly, thinking about the portrayed: Who was this man, and what statement was he trying to make? These intimate portraits often functioned as keepsakes, tokens of affection or familial connection within a very specific social strata. Perhaps its user wanted to preserve his likeness among acquaintances and friends in a small wearable fashion. Editor: I suppose. I keep thinking about its crafting and what it meant in the age it was crafted, and how it exists and functions in ours today, centuries later, how our relationship has transformed across temporal and functional terms. The frame itself... it’s as important as the sitter here, in that it's like a little material, temporal capsule. Curator: I agree! By unpacking the materiality of this work and its engagement within the portrayed social strata, perhaps now, we see more fully its capacity to hold complex narratives and trigger critical inquiry. It makes this pocket size art piece more relevant to new dialogues! Editor: For sure! Thank you. It allows for us to continue the dialogue and see this miniature as not so mini as a source of wonder and critique!