Jean-Baptiste van Steenberghen 1668

Editor: So, this is a portrait of Jean-Baptiste van Steenberghen from 1668, by Robert Nanteuil. It's an engraving, quite striking actually. There's something very...authoritative about his gaze. What jumps out at you when you look at it? Curator: It makes me think about capturing a fleeting moment. Imagine Nanteuil, scratching away at that copper plate. All those tiny lines to build up a personality! The weight of the Baroque, its love for detail… Can you see the texture in that robe? It’s more than just fabric; it's about status, power. Does the inscription mean anything to you? Editor: I noticed the inscription, it's beautifully rendered. It says: "IOAN. BAPT. VAN STEENBERGHEN. REGL. CATHOL. IN. SVMMO. BELGICAE. DICASTERIO. A. CONSL. LIBEL. ET. FISCI. ADVOCATIONE". No clue what it means, sorry! Curator: Ah, don't apologize. Let’s just say it's a glorious mouthful of Latin titles! It paints him as a major legal figure in the region, a defender of the faith, no less. Isn’t it funny how seriously people took themselves back then? Though, perhaps we’re not so different now... Look at his eyes, almost challenging. I wonder what Nanteuil really thought of him. Editor: You know, I hadn't really thought about the artist's perspective, more just a reproduction. Thinking about Nanteuil adding detail by detail to the image... I guess the artist inevitably leaves a little something of themselves in the work, too. Curator: Exactly! Every mark is a choice, a whisper of the artist’s hand. It’s not just about the sitter; it's about the act of seeing, of translating. Something that digital cameras perhaps conceal nowadays. So much more that it looks like at first glance, isn’t it? Editor: Definitely! I'll look at prints very differently now. Thanks!