Portrait
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An example of a portrait showing the painter Vincent van Gogh. It is a self-portrait because van Gogh is also the person who made the portrait.
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Anthony van Dyck, Charles I in Three Positions, 1635-1636, shows profile, full face and three-quarter views, to send to Bernini in Rome, who was to sculpt a bust from this model.
A portrait is a painting or a photograph of a person's face and its expression. The purpose of a portrait is to show the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography, a portrait is actually not a snapshot, but a calm image of a person in a still position. A portrait normally shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer.
Gallery
Girl with a Pearl Earring, Vermeer's most famous painting.
William Orpen: Portrait of Gertrude Sanford, 1922
Sharaku: Actor Ichikawa Ebozo as Takemura Sadanoshin, 1794.
Butch Cassidy mug shot from the Wyoming Territorial Prison in 1894.
Other websites
- National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution
- National Portrait Gallery London
- Painting The Century 101 Portrait Masterpieces
- Jeanne Ivy's Self-Portrait Page - What Artists Find When They Search in the Mirror.
- Portrait Detectives - Fun interactive introduction to the analysis of portraiture.
- Reportret - A gallery of reconstructions of missing portraits from world history.