Portret van Thomas Löffelholz von Kolberg 1668

This engraving of Thomas Löffelholz von Kolberg was made by Johann Freidrich Leonard in the late 17th century. The weaponry, the formal attire, and the proud family name inscribed at the bottom tell us a great deal about how the sitter saw himself, and how he wanted to be seen by those who viewed this image. Made in Germany, this portrait speaks to a very particular set of Central European social and political conditions following the Thirty Years War. The patchwork Holy Roman Empire was comprised of hundreds of semi-autonomous political units. Social identity and status rested on heredity, religious affiliation, and military service. Leonard’s portrait subtly alludes to all of these. In the decades that followed, new forms of centralized administration would slowly diminish the power of figures like Löffelholz. Art historians use images like these to reconstruct the ways that social power has been exercised and represented in different times and places.