Bessler portrait - hi-res

[Furcurequs]

I found a website with a very high resolution scan of Bessler's DT portrait. (They also have the overlayed version with the instruments, but unfortunately it is not so hi-res.)

Willkommen im Digitalen Portraitindex der druckgraphischen Bildnisse der Frühen Neuzeit

...or Google translated:

Welcome to the Digital Portrait Index of printmaking portraits of the early modern period

http://www.portraitindex.de/

You can pan around the hi-res image, but you can't download it. They us a flash program called Zoomify to display the stitched-together picture. There is an e-mail link to inquire about obtaining it, however.

http://www.portraitindex.de/documents/obj/33206372


I've uploaded a couple of attachments I got from screen shots. Click on them to check out the detail.


The portrait was apparently scanned at the Leipzig University Library.

https://www.ub.uni-leipzig.de/forschung ... ammlungen/

[Ed]

Some time back, I managed to get all of DT in super high resolution, including these two images. I have them as 10 MB tiff files, if you are interested?

[Furcurequs]

Hey Ed,

Thanks for asking, but I probably don't need them myself. I was thinking of people like maybe Ken, who (now) posts in John Collins' forum, who get their Bessler clues from his portraits. ;)

I'm not sure, but I may have even seen some handwriting on the skull when I zoomed in! ...lol Actually, it really did sort of look like it.

Anyway, as someone who has done some pencil and airbrush portraits in the past (I won't count the failed attempt at an oil painting), I just found it fascinating to be able to see the detail in this old engraving. I may have to further investigate the techniques used.

So, thanks again for asking, but there's really no need to bother in my case.

Dwayne

[Tarsier79]

The mark8ngs on the table look a little odd. Is there a word there Ed?

[Ed]

It does look strange, doesn't it? After looking at it for a while and trying to see if the shapes fit any recognizable pattern, I don't think so.

[AB Hammer]

I see Bessler's wright arm resting on 3 books and pointing to the spine of the one leaning on the skull. So does this mean 3 up 1 down?

I see Bessler's left hand looking like it is trying to walk off like Thing from the Adams family. So a form of walking system? Could be another clue.

[ME]

Going Rorschach, I see all kinds of things.... O_o

[AB Hammer]

Wow! ME

I now see an alien behind the back to back Besslers. It looks a lot like the one that shows up in a Leonardo painting when split and back to back.

[ME]

Perhaps Dark Vader... tam tam taaa.

Some interesting things about the curtain-chord:
*It lines up exactly between the twisted and untwisted bottle: that why I mirrored those two at the right.
*The left two mirrors are aligned on his smilley (:o making it (:o:) - perhaps reverencing MT025 ( as Fletcher said: "It was the positions of the poles joint (as drawn)")
*The curtain twist near the chord at the top looks like two fingers: that's why I put a smaller copy at the bottom (we could make a fractal out of it)
*At the blended right-part the hands seem to come out of the skull and open the vase up from it's side (or whatever one might see)
*slightly above one can detect a pentagram, or an image of a holy person, or one giant rorschach blob.

[ME]

An attempt to enhance the DT-workbench image.

[AB Hammer]

Thanks ME

I like the clean up job. Good work

[John Collins]

Good job ME. The workshop has all the things associated with a carpenter and/or an organ builder, but I don't see where the globe fits in? Odd, n'est-ce pas?

JC

[ME]

Thanks AB Hammer, John Collins.
(I guess it's originally your scan, John? - thanks back)

I'm curious about the lamp-like thing on a tripod on the right bench.

Marchello E.

[rlortie]

The lamp like thing has been in quandary with me for years.

I am stuck on believing it is a candle heated-spinning magic lantern, a toy for children. A device operated not unlike the smoke-jack!

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_lantern

[Stewart]

Hi John

Good job ME. The workshop has all the things associated with a carpenter and/or an organ builder, but I don't see where the globe fits in? Odd, n'est-ce pas?

I don't think it's odd at all. There is astronomical and surveying equipment on display, therefore a globe of either terrestrial or celestial nature is not out of place.

Stewart