Bilderdijk with a/wearing a twist

Bilderdijk believed that the true poet (and he undoubtedly considered himself to be one) was an exceptional person, a ‘genius’. This included an eccentric image, which he also conveyed in his clothing style, which looked as though it had come straight from the eighteenth century: ‘My skirt is and will still be the dressy skirt of my time, and my hat is still trimmed as when I was expelled from the country in 1795.’ It was a means of opposing the spirit of the times that he detested: ‘So I am not very close to the present world either.’

Bilderdijk often wore a turban or twist around his head to combat his chronic headaches. He used to place a heated earthen dish on his head and then wrap it around. This gave him an oriental appearance as a poet.

Bilderdijk has been depicted many times with the characteristic twist around his head, including in this portrait of an unknown artist from the second half of the nineteenth century.