PORTRAIT. 



POSElDOtf. 



650 



Bhifta his station, and the great play of light and shade, all render this 

 little bit quite an architectural study. 



Fig. 10. 



PORTRAIT (Portrait, French ; Ritratto, Italian ; Bildn'os, German ; 

 Imago, Latin ; flxtav, Greek). A portrait, strictly speaking, signifies 

 the likeness of anything whatever, whether animate or inanimate, 

 either drawn or coloured upon a flat surface : in a more restricted 

 sense it signifies a drawing or a painting representing the likeness of 

 any particular individual; but it is also frequently applied to the 

 pictures of animals. 



Portrait, says Lord Orford, is the only true historical painting. Its 

 uses are manifest ; it administers to the affections, it preserves to the 

 world the features of those who, for their services, have merited the 

 gratitude of mankind, and of those who have been in any way remark- 

 able for their own actions or through their position in society ; and in 

 a simply historical point of view, it illustrates the costume and habits 

 of past ages. In all or nearly all these respects photographic por- 

 traiture is of almost inestimable value ; but our immediate subject is 

 portrait painting, and to that we must confine our attention. We may, 

 however, remark that it is only by a studious regard to the principles 

 which lead to excellence in portrait painting, that satisfactory results 

 can be obtained in photographic portraiture. 



Portraiture seems to be almost as ancient as the art of painting 

 itself ; indeed, according to the romantic legend told by Pliny (' Hist. 

 Nat." xxxv. 12, 43), it was hi Greece the origin of the imitative arts ; 

 an enamoured Corinthian maid traced the profile of her lover around 

 his shadow coat by a lamp upon the wall. 



The most ancient portraits extant, if they can be termed such, are 

 those which have been found in the cases of mummies : there is a 

 singularly fine specimen of these preserved in the Egyptian museum 

 of the Louvre in Paris; and there is also one in the British 

 Museum, 



It was a custom among the ancients, in very early times, for 

 warriors to have their portraits painted upon their shields, called by 

 the Romans imayines clipcorum, or imagines clipeata, and these shields 

 were frequently dedicated in the temples in honour of their owners 

 when deceased, or placed by victors as trophies (clipei votivi). The 

 portraits were most probably painted in wax, but that they were well 

 executed is very doubtful ( Pliny, xxxv. 3.) 



Among the Romans, in the time of the republic, the possession of 

 the portraits of their ancestors (imayino majorum) was a proof of 

 nobility, for by the jut imaginum none were permitted to make 

 portraits of themselves except those who had themselves or whose 

 ancestors had borne some curule magistracy ; and Roman families' were 

 accustomed to boast of their ftumaas imayina as a proof of their 

 ancient nobility. (Cic., ' In Pisonem,' 1.) These portraits or images, 

 which were of wax, were preserved with much care by their posterity, 

 and were only brought out upon great occasions or carried before them 

 in funeral processions. ( Pliny, xxxv. 2. ) They were probably 

 painted busts, for the art of casting with wax in plaster moulds 

 taken from the life was, according to Pliny (xxxv. 12, 44), invented 

 aa early as the time of Alexander, by Lysistratus the brother of 

 l,\ Mppus. It seems that the Romans were also sometimes in the 

 habit of prefixing the portraits of authors to their works. Martial 

 mentions one of Virgil (xiv. 186). 



The most ancient portrait-painter of extraordinary merit on record 

 was apparently Dionysius of Colophon : he is praised by Aristotle 

 (' Poet.,' 2) for the fidelity of his paintings ; and from what Plutarch 

 says (' Timol.,' 38) of the high finish of his works, we may perhaps 

 term him the Holbein of antiquity : he flourished, as nearly as can be 

 ascertained, shortly after the time of Polygnotus and Phidias, about 

 430 B.C. 



The most famous portrait-painter among the ancients was Apelles : 

 he enjoyed the exclusive privilege of painting the portraits of 

 Alexander : one of his most celebrated pictures was a portrait of that 

 monarch as Jupiter, called the " Alexander Ceraunophoros," for which, 

 according to the incredible account of Pliny (xxxv. 10, 36), he received 

 20 talents of gold (upwards of 50.000/. sterling) ; so large a sum, that it 

 was measured to the painter, not counted ("mensura, non numero"). 

 Most of the pictures of Apelles were portraits in an extended sense, yet 

 it is doubtful whether before the time of the Roman emperors there 

 was a distinct class of painters who confined themselves to portraits 

 ("imaginum pictores:" Pliny, xxxv. 11, 40). Even in the great 

 days of Italian art there was nut a distinct class of portrait painters as 



in the present times ; and it is an incontestable fact, that although 

 upon the whole the number of good portrait painters has very much 

 ncreased, still portrait-painting itself has not improved since such has 

 aecome the practice. 



The success of a portrait depends upon the sitter as well as upon 

 the painter, and it may be spoiled by the bad taste of the one or the 

 other. Excellence in portraiture consists in placing every feature in 

 its proper place, in a correctness of modelling, a judicious arrangement 

 of light and shade suited to the complexion of the subject, and in 

 tasteful attire and an unaffected and simple attitude ; the former are 

 within the province of the painter, the latter in that of the sitter. 

 Much of the character may be shown by the posture, and the painter 

 should adopt that which appears most natural to his sitter, for the 

 habits of nature must be distinguished from those of fashion ; no 

 defect is more striking in a portrait than a forced aud affected 

 attitude. 



In every portrait the countenance of the person represented should 

 constitute the picture ; all accessories must be kept subordinate to 

 the principal object, and should not engage the attention except when 

 expressly examined, for they are the mere adjuncts necessary to indicate 

 the character, rank, or nation of the original. Upon these principles 

 a good portrait must be a good picture, for the beauty of a picture 

 consists in the harmony of the whole in composition, colour, and 

 execution : and when every part has received no more of the painter's 

 attention than its local importance requires, a picture cannot in any 

 particular deviate from the truth, simplicity, and unity of nature. 

 Fancy costumes are injurious to portraits as portraits, for a general 

 resemblance being the principal object of portraiture, the subject 

 should be clothed as usual, and the more simple the attire, the more 

 prominent and consequently the more important will be the head, 

 which is the principal object. Whatever deviations are allowed from 

 this principle, although the picture may perhaps gam in pictorial effect, 

 it must lose as a portrait. A mere insipid transcript of the features, 

 and an equally minute attention to the detail of the accessories, are a 

 degradation of portrait. There is no other difference between historical 

 painting and portrait painting than that portrait exacts a stricter 

 attention to the individual character, and consequently reqmres a more 

 careful execution of the head, but the draperies and accessories should 

 be equally bold and free as in historical painting. Large canvasses, 

 and what are termed full-lengths, are ill suited to portrait, and the 

 latter are seldom successful even under the most able hands. How 

 often we see a great field of canvass, where the head is a mere speck, 

 and is generally lost in the mass of accessories, of trees, columns, or 

 draperies ; these are pictures of robes, not of men, and are only toler- 

 able as state portraits, when the insignia of rank or office are more 

 important than the individuals. Such should be termed Iconics 

 (cucofucof) rather than portraits. 



Expression is perhaps the most important study in portrait. To 

 represent the true character of an individual, the countenance should 

 be painted in repose, when no particular sentiment or passion pre- 

 dominates ; for an otherwise good picture may be rendered a very bad 

 portrait through the injudicious adoption of some transitory expres- 

 sion, or the introduction of a smile put on for the occasion, when 

 perhaps the mouth is smiling whilst the eyes are languid and fatigued. 

 The expression may be also materially injured by exaggerating the 

 local tints, which in most cases has the effect of changing the com- 

 plexion, and the particular expression of every individual depends 

 upon the complexion as well as upon the relative proportions of the 

 features. It is by accurately giving these proportions that what is 

 called a striking likeness is produced, and this may be accomplished 

 without entering into any minute detail of the parts ; the features are 

 indicated rather than expressed : this is a principle of historical 

 painting, but is a style only fit for the portraits of public characters, 

 or such as arc to be placed in spacious localities, and must be viewed 

 at a distance. 



Such portraits, when even of only tolerable resemblance, are 

 generally pronounced to be striking likenesses, especially by those 

 who have but an imperfect knowledge of the persons represented ; for 

 they are themselves unacquainted with any more of the physiognomy 

 of the originals than they see expressed in the pictures. Theso 

 portraits however lose their resemblance either upon close inspection 

 or upon a prolonged view. 



The most successful painters of portrait in modern times have been 

 Lionardo da Vinci, Raffaelle, Sebastian del Piombo, Oiorgione, Paris 

 Bordone, Titian, Velasquez, Holbein, Hals, Rembrandt, and Vandyck ; 

 and the following pictures are amongst the finest specimens of portrait 

 painting extant : his own portrait by Lionardo da Vinci, in tho 

 portrait gallery at Florence ; Andrea Doria, by Sebastian del Piombo, 

 in the Palazzo Doria at Rome ; the head of Guido, by Simono 

 Cantarini, in the Academy at Bologna ; Titian and Aretin, by Titian, 

 in the royal collection at Windsor ; Pope Innocent X., by Velasquez, 

 in the Palazzo Doria at Rome ; the Meyer Family, by Holbein, in the 

 gallery at Dresden ; and the head of Gevartius, by Vandyck, in the 

 National Gallery in London. 



Of the portrait painters of more recent times, Mengs, Reynolds, 

 Gainsborough, David, Gerard, and Lawrence have enjoyed the greatest 

 celebrity. 



POSEIDON (noffjiSic), one of the deities of the Greek Olympus. 



