Portraiture
Great portraiture is one of art’s many surprises. Portraits, of course, have long been considered historical documents of what the sitter looked like but EPPH suspects, despite most opinion over the centuries claiming otherwise, that an accurate likeness was rarely the primary goal of a great portraitist. And while a painter-poet (our definition of an artist who paints) can depict a sitter as his or her own alter ego in many different ways (see THEMES) , one of the most common and intriguing, it seems to me, is the fusion of the artist's own facial features with the sitter's. The evidence available is fairly abundant and far exceeds the content of this site to-date. First of all, we are not alone. Other art historians have noticed the phenomenon too (see below). The most compelling example is the portrait series of British monarchs from Holbein's Henry VIII to Lucian Freud's Elizabeth II. You can judge for yourself in the gallery of English sovreigns and other famous Brits. There are similar selections on Italian, Spanish, French and American portraiture as well. The series of early American presidents is another eye-opener.
All Articles (Alphabetical by Artist, then Title)
The pose in this portrait by Raphael, with the head turned upwards and away, has been described as a type suggesting that the Pope's secretary is listening to or witnessing divine revelation.
Raphael’s Tommaso Inghirami (c. 1511)
How Rembrandt used gold chains as a symbol of the high honor due to him as a great master
Rembrandt and the Artist’s Gold Chain
How realism and the use of models fools the eyes. Art, one must remember, is never 'real' and never 'photographic'.
Rembrandt’s A Bearded Man in a Cap (1657)
See how Rembrandt concisely expresses the underlying idea of art in a Roman myth
Rembrandt’s Lucretia (1666)
Learn about other methods Rembrandt used to convey his message
Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Young Woman (1632)
See how one great master resides in another, or sometimes two.
Rembrandt’s Self-portrait at a Window and Matisse’s Self-portrait as an Etcher
Scholars have long wondered why Rembrandt would represent himself in expensive and extravagant clothing from a century earlier even though they know that the etched self-portrait is based on an engraving of the fifteenth-century painter Jan Gossaert, known as Mabuse.
Rembrandt’s Self-portrait in Sixteenth-Century Costume (1638)
An essential question about any picture: does the figure resemble an artist at work?
Rembrandt’s Young Woman Leaning Against a Door (1657)
How a Renaissance artist used an optical illusion to convey meaning
Remenschneider’s Three Helper Saints (c.1500-05)
Learn how one artist copies another and makes it his own
Rubens’ Copy of Titian’s Charles V in Armor with a Drawn Sword (c.1603)
Don't take portraits at face value. If they're art, there's always more to them.
Schiele’s Portrait of a Lady in an Orange Hat (1910)
In the epistle of an apostle, the letters matter; as they also do in the self-portrait of a prophet, even if self-proclaimed.
Schiele’s Self-portrait as a Saint (1913)
Look at art from every which way you can. You never know what you might see.
Signorelli’s Virgin & Child with John the Baptist and Donor (c.1491-4)
Even the most natural-looking portraits can be something other than they seem
Sloan’s Portrait of George Sotter (1902)
Relax. Look past the superficial forms to see what's really there.
Titian’s Pope Paul III and His Grandsons (1545-6)
See how one artist identifies with another even if they are rivals
Titian’s Portrait of a Gentleman (c.1520)
See how the face of the same sitter changes depending on who paints him
Van Dyck’s Emperor Charles V (c.1623) and Titian’s too
A Van Dyck portrait at the Frick reveals some of its secrets easily
Van Dyck’s Marchesa Cattaneo (c.1622-7) at The Frick
A spiritual journey is one of the basic plots of literature and a common metaphor in both philosophy and religion. Why not art?
Van Gogh’s On the Road to Tarascon (1888)
One of Van Gogh's first portraits in France of someone other than himself was "himself"
Van Gogh’s Portrait of Alexander Reid (1887)
See how a portrait viewed one way resembles a portrait; viewed another way turns the world inside out
Van Gogh’s The Zouave (1888)
See how Velazquez's king in The Frick Collection, New York, is not a "portrait" of the king
Velazquez’ King Philip IV in the Frick Collection (1644)
This painting of a sculptor sculpting has always confused viewers because he looks like he's drawing. Is he?
Velazquez’s Juan Martinez Montanes (1636)
Discover how the figure of an actor by Velazquez contains far more than just the figure of an actor
Velazquez’s Pablo de Vallodolid (1636-7)
Keep an eye on the "errors" in art and you will find the solutions
Velazquez’s Portrait of Infante Felipe Prospero (1659)
The magic of visual illusion was not an invention of the Surrealists; it has been an integral part of art for centuries.
Velazquez’s Portrait of Luis de Góngora (1622)...and Picasso’s.
See how Velazquez portrays the artist and his art and then apply the lesson learned elsewhere
Velazquez’s Prince Baltasar Carlos with a Dwarf (1632)
Artists often identify with other artists, using them as an alter ego. Here is an exceptionally clever one.
Whistler’s J. Becquet, Sculptor (1859)
EPPH's proposal, that artists identify with their sitters, is perhaps more persuasive when the sitter is another artist
Wilkie’s Portrait of Abraham Raimbach (1818)
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