It's Not Just a Portrait'.

 

Portraiture has always been a major player in art, from the self-portraits made in ancient Egypt and the Middle Ages to the Renaissance when it rose to fame thanks to the widespread circulation of requests made by royal families. In a way, it was a form of remembrance, of memory for the future, of preserving a lasting photograph of a person, in a singular way. In each portrait, the artist has his or her own decisions about what to show and how to position the subject. In most cases, if the subject is present, through the portrait we can find out how he or she wanted to be represented, or also how the artist wanted to represent him or her.