Theme of Portraiture in Art

Collage of Self Portraits

Throughout history and across cultures, people have shown a fascination with faces, and in turn, with portrait representation. The depiction of an individual likeness is about identification, but more than that, it is a record of an interaction between an artist and a sitter, both of whom contribute to the portrait's form and content. Far from being mirror reflections, portraits are complex constructions of identity that serve a range of functions from expressing power and declaring status to making larger statements about society at a given point in history.

Questions for Thought

What is a portrait? What is a self-portrait?
How can portraits and self-portraits help you think about your own and others' identity?
What do you think the person in this portrait wanted to communicate about himself or herself?
In what ways is a self-portrait different from a portrait of someone else? What can a self-portrait show about someone or the person's sense of group identity?
How does the relationship between artist and sitter change the outcome of the portrait?
What kind of life do you think this person leads? Does he or she work? If so, as what?
Are there any props that give clues about the sitter's profession or lifestyle?
What can we discover about a person just by looking at his or her portrait?
What do you think the person in this portrait wanted to communicate about himself or herself?
What does his or her facial expression tell us about how he or she is feeling at this moment?
Why do you think that some portraits show a person in full-length view, while others show only part of the body or just the head and shoulders? How do these different portrait types communicate different things about their sitters?

The College Board has used this theme on the AP Art History exam over the years. This review component has been designed to help you explore this theme. In the earlier modules, you were introduced to several works that use writing as part of the artwork. The following list is just a few examples.

In this module, a few of the works that are good examples of representations of portraiture are the following:

Rebellious Silence , from the Women of Allah series. Shirin Neshat (artist); photo by Cynthia Preston. 1994 C.E. Ink on photograph.
Untitled (#228), from the History Portraits series. Cindy Sherman. 1990 C.E. Photograph.

The following images from the past modules are a few of the possible examples of portraiture:

King Menkaure and queen. Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty. c. 2490-2472 B.C.E. Greywacke.
Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters. New Kingdom (Amarna), 18th Dynasty. c. 1353-1335 B.C.E. Limestone.
Head of a Roman patrician. Republican Roman. c. 75-50 B.C.E. Marble.
Augustus of Prima Porta. Imperial Roman. Early first century C.E. Marble.
The Arnolfini Portrait . Jan van Eyck. c. 1434 C.E. Oil on wood.
School of Athens . Raphael. 1509-1511 C.E. Fresco.
Venus of Urbino . Titian. c. 1538 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Henri IV Receives the Portrait of Marie de' Medici , from the Marie de' Medici Cycle. Peter Paul Rubens. 1621-1625 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo . Attributed to Juan Rodríguez Juárez. c. 1715 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Miguel Cabrera. c. 1750 C.E. Oil on canvas.
George Washington. Jean-Antoine Houdon. 1788-1792 C.E. Marble.
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon . Pablo Picasso. 1907 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Marilyn Diptych. Andy Warhol. 1962 C.E. Oil, acrylic, and silkscreen enamel on canvas.
Wall plaque, from Oba's palace. Edo peoples, Benin (Nigeria). 16th century C.E. Cast brass.
Ndop(portrait figure) of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul. Kuba peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). c. 1760-1780 C.E. Wood
Veranda post of enthroned king and senior wife (Opo Ogoga). Olowe of Ise (Yoruba peoples). c. 1910-1914 C.E. Wood and pigment.
Portrait of Sin Sukju (1417-1475). Imperial Bureau of Painting. c. 15th century C.E. Hanging scroll (ink and color on silk).
Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings . Bichitr. c. 1620 C.E. Watercolor, gold, and ink on paper.
Tamati Waka Nene. Gottfried Lindauer. 1890 C.E. Oil on canvas.

The following images from the past modules are a few of the possible examples of self-portraiture:

Self-Portrait with Saskia. Rembrandt van Rijn. 1636 C.E. Etching.
Las Meninas . Diego Velázquez. c. 1656 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Self-Portrait . Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. 1790 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Self-Portrait as a Soldier. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. 1915 C.E. Oil on canvas.
The Two Fridas . Frida Kahlo. 1939 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings. Bichitr. c. 1620 C.E. Watercolor, gold, and ink on paper.
Chairman Mao en Route to Anyuan. Artist unknown; based on an oil painting by Liu Chunhua. c. 1969 C.E. Color lithograph.

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