Portret van Johan V, koning van Portugal op 24-jarige leeftijd 1725

Curator: So striking, isn't it? This print immediately feels like a medieval manuscript page. There is something holy here, maybe an evangelist’s attribute, or the source of their truth revealed by signs? Editor: You’ve immediately picked up on its potent spirituality. Technically, we're looking at an anonymous print from around 1725. It is held at the Rijksmuseum and identified as "Portret van Johan V, koning van Portugal op 24-jarige leeftijd," but the way it departs from portrait conventions certainly makes me question the intentions behind the artwork, or perhaps it served symbolic purposes. The anonymous profile of the figure does have the character of an archetype instead. Curator: Yes, it feels more like an idea than a portrait, like someone channelling authority instead of depicting it. Notice the halo, not quite a perfect circle and punctuated by a cross... And then these strange lightbeams interspersed by star signs, what should we read here? It could certainly signify spiritual and earthly rule together, but somehow more intimate, maybe something quite self-centered, or hubristic? Editor: It's the arrangement that draws my eye. The composition relies on a contrast of textures; you've got a pattern like fish scales right next to another composed of lozenges... But this organic flow erupting from the mouth of the fish seems superimposed almost unnaturally next to it, and disrupting the implied perspectival organization. How does that strike you? Curator: Almost as a symbolic cleansing of his mouth? Like wisdom, revelation, springing from what is unspoken and hidden? As though his kingship were as divinely inspired as the old stories… What about the dark color chosen to stage it, everything could vanish so quickly into oblivion... but no, there it stays. Almost stubbornly defined in its forms, if you ask me. It is certainly making an impact in its simplicity, however enigmatic it might seem! Editor: You're right. It has this lingering ambiguity, making it more poignant than any meticulous historical portrait could ever be. A symbolic rendering of authority that feels, somehow, far more personal. Curator: Yes.