In portraits from the past our gaze is met with the often inscrutable gazes of unknown, strangely- dressed, and oddly-posed, yet fascinating figures. Who are they and how can we understand better the society which produced such images? The subject of this course is the changing role and function of the portrait from the Renaissance to the 20th century and, in particular, who is portrayed and why. We will examine how the artist meets the difficult challenge of portraying the status and individuality of the sitter and the iconography associated with portraiture. Format is also crucial to our understanding of the portrait and we will identify different categories (pair, group, royal, civic, formal, informal); examine how pose, gaze, gesture, dress affect our interpretation; and discuss evidence of genderisation in differing approaches to male and female images. Portraits are also relevant as social documents which provide clues to changing historical, cultural and political contexts and contribute to Western European society’s perception of itself over the centuries. Finally, we will also analyse the artist’s perception of ‘self’ in the self-portrait and how his/her private or public persona might be interpreted.
Another aspect of portraiture is how it is influenced by artistic development. We will trace such development through the work of major contributors to portraiture such as Titian, Dürer, Holbein, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Velazquez, Goya, Ingres, Degas, Picasso and Freud: as well as some lesser-known artists, such as Gossaert, Bronzino, Moroni, and Mor. From the mid-19th century onwards, artists use the portrait to explore innovative approaches to the sitter, whereby capturing likeness becomes secondary to challenging artistic traditions. We will discuss what affects such fundamental changes in approach and what traditions survive in portraiture. After all, there are only so many ways to place a sitter within pictorial space!
The course will be structured around PowerPoint presentations. Weekly lists of the images shown will be provided, together with information sheets and relevant texts.
What our students say
"So many incredible centuries and works of art that I would never have been able to learn about and discover on my own. I really felt like I could appreciate art on a whole new level!"
