Suche nach dem Selbst im Bild. Selbstbildnisse Philipp Otto Runges - Identitätsprobleme in der Romantik

Four self-portraits of Philipp Otto Runge (1777-1810) hang in the Hamburger Kunsthalle. They are fascinating versions of the "self-world" problem in which the artist tries again and again to experience his own identity. These self-portraits were repeatedly a reason for the author to have "picture conversations" in seminars with 10 to 15 participants. The priority was to exchange ways of reading, interpret the self-portraits and construct a biography based on aesthetic products. In this contribution, the author examines the identity problem, the question of how this is contained in self-portraits and the way that Runge as an exponent of the Romantic period solved his identity problem (or how he failed to do so). One conclusion is that the self-image opens a communication process between the self and the other while the painter attempts to understand himself and the observer attempts to understand the painter and thus him/herself. It is never just a question of the reception but always of construction and interpretation. When looking at an external appearance, an internal mental state is reconstructed.