Definition for portrait - What types of portraits are there?
Definition of portrait simply explained
Many people ask themselves the question, what is a portrait anyway? Portrait is derived from French and is understood as an image or photograph of a person.
When cropping a portrait, the entire body, a half-length portrait, the head or just the face of the person is shown. The aim is to focus as much as possible on the face or eyes of the model in order to express the personality. An example of a portrait photograph would be a passport photo.
It is also the job to “represent” those who are not present or to preserve a memory of someone. The portrait received different recognition as it developed.
What types of portraits are there?
They are differentiated according to the form of representation
- Portrait head: the head can be seen including the neck
- Bust: Representation of the shoulder area and a large part of the upper body, continuing from the head and neck
- Chestpiece: Image of most of the upper body with full or partial arms
- Half-length: The person's figure is shown up to the waist
- Knee piece: the sitter is drawn up to the knees
- Full figure: Representation of the drawn person in their entirety
A distinction is also made based on the degree of rotation
- Front view: Face is shown from the front
- Half profile: Portrait is only painted half from the side
- Three-quarter view: one side of the head is fully visible, the other is very foreshortened
- Profile: The face is shown half turned to the side
The art history of portraits
The art of portraiture was practiced in ancient Greece as early as 500 BC. In the Middle Ages, people as individuals took a backseat to faith. So the art portrait style was changed. For example, small portraits were inserted into biblical scenes to show the donor of the work of art (pope or bishop).
In the Middle Ages, depictions of a human being were initially designed to idealize and transcendent reality. It is presented in a comprehensive, timeless manner, pleasing to the eye of God, and in a form stripped of everything accidental and unessential.
In the late Middle Ages, the image space was filled with visualized information such as names or monograms, coats of arms, medals and motto of the person depicted as well as the year of publication.
The beginnings and highlights of portrait painting
The aim of the powerful in the earlier “portraits” of art history was to depict them on the coin reliefs, to find their distribution and to represent their “power” through statues. The pursuit of immortality through the representation of the face, which in ancient times manifested itself in mummy masks and mummy paintings, was of great importance.
Over the last few centuries, a large number of painters, photographers, sculptors and filmmakers have contributed to creating a wide variety of representations. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance there were very strict rules about how someone was to be portrayed according to his or her rank. Only over time did these change and became less and less relevant with the French Revolution at the latest.
Changes in Renaissance portraiture
The main task of Renaissance art in the 14th, 15th and early 16th centuries was to depict religious, secular and mythological scenes as messages. Best suited for publication in huge murals as well as monumental sculptures.
The Mona Lisa is the most famous portrait of the Italian Renaissance, which Leonardo Da Vinci drew at the age of 50.
Development of portrait painting
The commercial prosperity of the Italian city-states and a few northern European ports led to the artistic resurgence known in the Renaissance.
From that point on, instead of church commissions for wall paintings, statues and other works of art, wealthy rulers and citizens across Europe also became important sponsors of fine art, especially Renaissance portraits.
Portraits from the Proto-Renaissance (13th-14th centuries)
Byzantine art greatly influenced Italian Gothic art. This had a linear, flat style with striking compositions, especially when depicting the Passion of Christ. During this time people began to paint rounded, realistic faces as well as figures.
Four principles make up the painting of the Early Renaissance (ca. 1420-1520).
- An awe-inspiring admiration of Greek antiquity
- The belief in humanism
- Mastering linear perspective
- Respect for naturalistic painting of the human form
The Northern Renaissance (1420-1520)
Her art was pragmatic and down-to-earth. It was also based on two crucial principles:
- Oil paint was discovered, which enables endless revision of the portrait and thus a unique clarity of detail
- Appreciating linear perspective as well as refined shading
More about this: Portrait drawings by Sketchus