Gold, glass, and marble dazzle the eye in this 6th-century church. High above us, Emperor Justinian presides.
A-Level: Identity – portraits in 2D works
Everything seems so perfect... Hang on, what’s that in the foreground? And why is that lute string broken?
The carpet and the globe: Holbein’s The ...
Artificial? Moi? This genuine portrait of familial affection challenged assumptions about the aristocracy.
Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait with her Daughter
The subjects appear quiet and austere, yet Hals’s expressive use of paint animates this group portrait.
Frans Hals, The Women Regents
Ancient Egyptians made little use of naturalistic portraits, but this changed following capture by Rome.
Egyptian mummy portraits
These self-portraits were swapped like friendship bracelets among Gauguin, Bernard, and their buddy Van Gogh.
Gauguin, Self-Portrait with Portrait of Émile Bernard ...
Does a portrait need to be an accurate visual representation of the subject?
Marsden Hartley, Portrait of a German Officer
Female painters were rare in sixteenth-century Italy. In self-portraits, Sofonisba made sure to appear virtuous.
Sofonisba Anguissola
What couldn’t Peale do? He is shown as he saw himself: portraitist, naturalist, curator, and Enlightenment thinker.
Charles Willson Peale, The Artist in His ...
Napoleon’s sister courted controversy and posed semi-nude for Canova, who sculpted her as a modern-day Venus.
Antonio Canova, Paolina Borghese as Venus Victorious
This idealized portrait celebrates Republican ideals and memorializes a Revolutionary martyr in the pose of Christ.
Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat
She fled France in disguise, but Vigée Le Brun does little to conceal her face—or her sympathy to Marie Antoinette.
Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait
It takes talent to turn an ordinary object into a work of art, but Dürer’s hand was up to the task.
Albrecht Dürer, Self-portrait, Study of a Hand ...
Professional female artists were few in the Dutch Republic. Here, Leyster cultivates confidence in her abilities.
Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait
With honesty and directness, Rembrandt paints a “selfie.” His marked face captures aging—and the painting process.
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait (1659)
“As I can.” On the frame to this portrait, the painter humblebrags—and establishes his place in history.
Jan van Eyck, Portrait of a Man ...
Dürer holds nothing back in this frontal portrait. By taking Christ’s pose, he conflates artist and creator.
Albrecht Dürer, Self-Portrait (1500)
What a show-off! Hoping to win a papal commission, the confident young painter foregrounds his hand—and his skill.
Parmigianino, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
What a catch! Henry VIII reportedly kissed this likeness of Christina, but their marriage was not to be.
Hans Holbein the Younger, Christina of Denmark, Duchess ...
“Everything is illusory and death comes for us all!” proclaims this cheerful self-portrait.
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