Portret van Claude Fauchet 1599 - 1614

This is Thomas de Leu’s engraving of Claude Fauchet. The portrait, encircled by an oval frame, presents Fauchet as a man of profound wisdom, his stern gaze and voluminous beard immediately striking. The inscription, "SCRIP. AT. AN. LXX. SAL. MDLXXXXIX," marks his age and the year the engraving was made. The beard, a symbol of age and wisdom, echoes across eras. Consider the ancient philosophers, their beards signifying deep thought and knowledge. In medieval art, similar beards mark the prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament, endowing them with divine authority. But it is not merely a marker of age; it is a psychological assertion of gravitas. Fauchet's gaze, steady and intense, pierces through time, engaging the viewer in a silent dialogue. Such is the power of images: to transcend their temporal origins and resonate with the collective unconscious, echoing and evolving across the ages.