Portraiture

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Portraiture in Europe and the Americas

The history of portraiture spans most of the history of Western art, from the art of ancient Egyptian and Greek civilizations to the modern art of Europe and North America.

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Ancient Portraiture

The first representations of identifiable individuals date from the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt about 3100 bc. During the Old Kingdom (2575-2134 bc), this type of portraiture flourished, especially in the funerary representations of pharaohs and nobles. Carved from some of the most durable materials known (diorite, slate, and granite), with subjects seated in rigid, staring poses, these portraits convey eternal authority, not the changeability of everyday life. During the New Kingdom (1550-1070 bc), more-naturalistic portraits were made, particularly when the pharaoh Akhenaton, who ruled from about 1353 to 1335 bc, introduced a new style to Egyptian portraiture. In this new style, depictions of members of the royal family are believed to have been based on the subjects' actual appearances. The subjects of these portraits have enlarged foreheads and swollen bellies—curvaceous forms that contrast dramatically with the angular severity of their predecessors. Some scholars feel that the first real portraits—images depicting the unidealized appearances of specific individuals—date from this period. See also Egyptian Art and Architecture.

The earliest examples of Greek portrait busts date from the 5th century bc. Although vivid and lifelike, these sculptures, which portrayed determined and handsome youths, were frequently idealized images. Historical accounts confirm that portrait painting was also executed during the same period in Greece. Roman writer Pliny the Elder recounts that, in a depiction of the Battle of Marathon (490 bc), the painter Panainos, brother of Greek sculptor Phidias, portrayed the battle leaders with portrait heads. Sculpted busts from the Hellenistic Age (4th century to 1st century bc) display remarkable naturalism and often express genuine emotion. See also Greek Art and Architecture: Hellenistic Sculpture (323-31 bc).

The Romans were expert in rendering individuals. Some scholars have argued that it was the practice of making and keeping death masks of ancestors (worn by survivors in the funeral processions) that accounts for the enormous skill with which Roman portraitists captured the individuality of their subjects. Many portrait busts survive, including images of Roman rulers as well as poignant representations of aged citizens. Especially noteworthy are the mummy portraits from the region of Al Fayyūm in Egypt. Painted during the 2nd century ad, these portraits depict individuals who stare wide-eyed at the viewer. These slightly simplified representations of staring subjects anticipate the severity and frontal orientation of early medieval portraits. See also Roman Art and Architecture; Ancient Rome; Roman Empire.

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Medieval Period

Early Christian art, dating from the 3rd century to the 7th century, included portraits in mosaic (small squares of stone or glass set into a wall surface) and sculpted portraits (see Early Christian Art and Architecture). Stone tombs, known as sarcophagi, often included depictions of the deceased in a circular frame. Known as imago clipeatae, these images are generally stylized, relying on a standardized vocabulary of imagery for the face and the figure, and their proportions are generally squat. Mosaic portraits, such as those in the apse of the Byzantine church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy (526-547), depict their subjects in stylized frontal images that convey authority (see Byzantine Art and Architecture). Medieval Gospel books included portraits of the Gospel authors, shown writing at their desks. Flat and sometimes formulaic, these portraits often conveyed the artist's understanding of the author based on the author's text. Noblemen and kings commissioned a variety of books, which were adorned with lavish portraits of these individuals. Examples of these books survive from the Carolingian period (8th century to 9th century) through the Gothic era (12th century to 15th century). See also Romanesque Art and Architecture; Gothic Art and Architecture; Illuminated Manuscripts.

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Renaissance

The Renaissance marked a turning point in the history of portraiture. Partly out of interest in the natural world and partly out of interest in the classical cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, portraits—both painted and sculpted—were given an important role in Renaissance society.

Portrait medals, based on the medals made in classical times, were popular in Italy. Those by Pisanello are particularly worthy of note. Artists also revived the classical practice of making portrait busts, good examples of which are the highly naturalistic busts by Antonio Rosellini and the elegant sculptures of Francesco Laurana. Profile portraits, inspired by ancient medallions, were particularly popular in Italy between 1450 and 1500. Later, profile portraits depicted donors, represented in the paintings and altarpieces they had commissioned. Important portraitists include Sandro Botticelli, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. Perhaps the finest 16th-century portraitist was Venetian artist Titian, who portrayed many leading figures of his day. Italian Mannerist artists contributed many exceptional portraits that emphasized material richness and elegantly complex poses, as in the works of Agnolo Bronzino and Jacopo da Pontormo. One of the best portraitists of 16th-century Italy was Sophonisba Anguissola from Cremona, who infused her individual and group portraits with new levels of complexity.

Northern European artists used the profile format far less often, and very seldom after 1420. In the Netherlands, Jan van Eyck was a leading portraitist; The Arnolfini Marriage (1434, National Gallery, London) is a detailed full-length portrait of a couple. Leading German portrait artists include Hans Holbein the Younger and Albrecht Dürer.

See also Renaissance Art and Architecture; Mannerism.

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Baroque and Rococo

During the baroque and rococo periods (17th century and 18th century, respectively), portraits became even more important. In a society dominated increasingly by secular leaders in powerful courts, images of opulently attired figures were both symbols of temporal power and wealth, and a means to affirm the authority of certain individuals. Flemish painters Sir Anthony van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens excelled at this type of portraiture. Also during these periods, artists increasingly studied the facial expressions that accompanied different emotions and they emphasized the portrayal of these human feelings in their work. In particular, Italian sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini and Dutch painter Rembrandt explored the many expressions of the human face. This interest fostered the creation of the first caricatures, credited to the Carracci Academy, run by painters of the Carracci family in the late 16th century in Bologna, Italy (see Carracci, Annibale).

Group portraits were produced in greater numbers during the baroque period, particularly in the Netherlands. Dutch painter Frans Hals used dashed lines of vivid color to enliven his group portraits, and Rembrandt experimented with introducing time and historical references into the group portrait, most notably in his famous Night Watch (1642). Bernini's bust Scipione Borghese (1632) captured the subject in mid-conversation and is considered a benchmark of baroque portraiture both because of its lifelike depiction of the subject and because it showed the subject in action. See also Baroque Art and Architecture.

Rococo artists, who were particularly interested in rich and intricate ornamentation, excelled at the refined portrait. Their attention to the details of dress and texture increased the efficacy of portraits as testaments to worldly wealth (see Rococo Style). French painters François Boucher and Hyacinthe Rigaud proved to be remarkable chroniclers of opulence, as were English painters Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds. In the 18th century, female painters gained new importance, particularly in the field of portraiture. Notable female artists include French painter Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Italian pastel artist Rosalba Carriera, and Swiss artist Angelica Kauffmann.