Overview

“Who am I?” Portraiture attempts to answer this question with paint. For centuries, it was the only way to preserve your face after death. Kings used it to show power (painting themselves as gods). Merchants used it to show wealth (painting their silks). Artists used it to explore the human soul.

Core Idea

The core idea is The Gaze. A portrait is a meeting of three people: the artist, the sitter, and the viewer. The artist interprets the sitter. The sitter performs for the artist. And the viewer judges both. It is a psychological triangle.

Formal Definition

A representation of a particular person. A portrait need not be a literal likeness (though it usually is); it can be symbolic or abstract, as long as it captures the essence of the subject.

Intuition

Look at a driver’s license photo. That is a “likeness.” It shows what you look like. Now look at a painting by Rembrandt. It shows what you feel like. It shows the sadness in the eyes, the weight of the years. A great portrait is not a map of the face; it is a map of the life.

Examples

  • Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci): The most famous portrait. Why? Because of the ambiguity. Is she smiling? Is she mocking us? It captures the mystery of another person’s mind.
  • Velázquez, Las Meninas: A portrait of the Spanish princess, but also a portrait of the artist painting her, and a portrait of the King and Queen in a mirror. It is a portrait about the act of painting portraits.
  • Cindy Sherman: A photographer who takes self-portraits dressed up as different characters (a clown, a movie star, a housewife). She proves that “identity” is just a costume we wear.

Common Misconceptions

  • It must be flattering: Historically, yes (Queen Elizabeth I forbade artists from painting her wrinkles). But modern portraiture (like Lucian Freud) often emphasizes the ugly, fleshy reality to find a deeper truth.
  • It’s dead: “Selfies killed the portrait.” Actually, we are more obsessed with portraits than ever. We curate our faces on Instagram every day. We are all portrait artists now.
  • The Self-Portrait: When the artist paints themselves (Van Gogh with his bandaged ear). It is the ultimate act of introspection.
  • Physiognomy: The pseudoscience that you can judge a person’s character by their face (e.g., “a weak chin means a weak will”). Portrait artists often used this code.
  • The Donor Portrait: In medieval art, the rich guy who paid for the church painting gets to be in the picture, kneeling next to Jesus. It was a spiritual receipt.

Applications

  • Politics: The official Presidential Portrait. It defines how history will remember the leader (e.g., Obama’s portrait by Kehinde Wiley, which broke tradition by using a floral background).
  • Psychology: Using portraits to diagnose mental states (e.g., Géricault’s portraits of the insane).

Criticism / Limitations

  • The Male Gaze: Historically, men painted women. Women were objects to be looked at, not subjects with their own agency.
  • Class: Until recently, only the rich could afford a portrait. The faces of the poor are missing from history (except in genre paintings).

Further Reading

  • West, Shearer. Portraiture. 2004.
  • Woodall, Joanna. Portraiture: Facing the Subject. 1997.
  • Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. 1972.