Portret van Erich I von Braunschweig-Lüneburg after 1630

Editor: So, this is “Portret van Erich I von Braunschweig-Lüneburg,” after 1630, by Peter Troschel. It’s an engraving, so a print. Immediately, I get a very stately, almost severe feeling from it. There's so much text packed around him. What stands out to you? Curator: Well, darling, the first thing I see is a man swimming in history, practically drowning in titles and pronouncements! It's so wonderfully baroque, this urge to define and confine within these swirling, ornamental frames. Do you get the sense he’s almost trapped, not just by the frame of the image, but by his own inherited status and obligations? Editor: Yes, definitely! He looks like he's got the weight of the world - or at least Braunschweig and Lüneburg - on his shoulders! The writing framing his oval portrait makes the portrait look important. Why surround him with this density of words? Curator: Oh, but that density IS the point! Think of it as Baroque information overload. Each swirly line, each carefully inscribed letter shouts about lineage, power, divine right. Do you think that density makes him more real, more impressive, or does it do the opposite, flattening him into another cog in the machine? Editor: I think… a bit of both. It elevates him, but also suffocates his individuality. The face seems almost secondary to the rest of it. Is that common for portraits like this? Curator: Absolutely! In many ways, these portraits weren't really about capturing likeness as much as enshrining an idea. Erich isn't so much a person as he is a symbol of dynastic continuity and divine favor, which in my opinion makes the man more intriguing! Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way. He's like a brand, not a person! Curator: Exactly, a brand, darling, perfectly put! It certainly does open our eyes to our media-filled landscape, doesn’t it?