The purpose and use of a portrait

By Sophie Oliver and Chantelle Jacquet

What a portrait is

A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer.

General information about portraits

Portraits first appeared in 1500. They where first of rich and famous people or people with a high status. Poor people did not commission portraits because they had no need to have them and nothing to show off about, they was not in a high enough status for a portrait.

History of portraits

In 1400-1600 ordinary wealthy people started to have portraits done. Click the URL for a timeline for portraits.

http://www.museumnetworkuk.org/portraits/timeline/timeline.html

1500-1700

1700-1800

1800-1900

1900-present

1837 – permanent photographic process is discovered, recording exactly what a person looked like and was much cheaper than a paining. Painting took a skills and a lot of time. Photos can capture moments easily than a painting.