Portret van de dichter François de Malherbe 1609 - 1620

This is Jean Wierix’s portrait of the poet François de Malherbe. Notice the elaborate ruff collar encircling Malherbe's neck, a sartorial flourish of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Beyond mere fashion, such collars signified status and refinement, setting their wearers apart as members of the elite. Now, consider how similar adornments appear throughout history. In ancient Egypt, pharaohs wore broad collars of precious metals and stones, symbols of power and divinity. The ruff, then, can be seen as a distant echo of these earlier displays of status. Even the crowns worn by monarchs throughout the ages, though different in form, serve a similar purpose: to elevate the wearer above the mundane. This impulse to signify status through clothing taps into something primal within us. Clothing is a language, a way of communicating our identity and aspirations. As a motif it re-emerges across time, shaped by each culture's unique values and beliefs.