ArtH 3291 – Portraiture

Spring 2017 Prof. Dabbs

Slide Review List for Exam #1 (scheduled for Thurs. Feb. 9)

Please note: the slide list will be updated each week with any additions or deletions. If you find any broken links, please let me know ASAP – thanks!

[reminder: you will NOT be asked to indicate the date on the exam, although it is given below]

Defining the Portrait:

Arcimboldo, Rudolf II as “Vertumnus”, 1590

Bernini, Scipione Borghese, 1630s [caricature]

Brouwer, Youth Making a Face, c.1632-35

Titian, La Bella, 1536

Vermeer, Girl with Pearl Earring, c.1665

Landseer, Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 1839

R. Cosway, The Eye of Mrs. Fitzherbert, 1786

Picasso, Portrait of Daniel Kahnweiler, 1910

[for fun, also say Rachel Harrison’s sculptural “portrait” of Johnny Depp; illustrated in Art News, vol. 106, June 2007;

Don’t have to know this one, but thought I would give you the reference since there was some interest in this]

[did not see, don’t have to know: Stubbs, Poodle in a Punt, c.1780 ]

Terms: portrait “conventions”; counterfeit; likeness; caricature; pseudo-portrait; tronie; composite head

To consider: what visual characteristics help identify a work as a portrait?

What role does the artwork’s title play?

How much visual information is needed to qualify a work as a portrait?

What does it matter if a work is identified as a portrait, or not?

Purposes of Portraits:

Raphael, Portrait of Castiglione, c.1514

Van Dyck, Lady Digby on her Deathbed, 1633

Roman Patrician with Busts of Ancestors, 1st C. A.D.

Bellini, Portrait of a Young Man, 1500

[also saw Titian, Madonna of the Pesaro Family, 1520; example of “donor portrait”]

Holbein, Anne of Cleves, c.1539

Antonello da Messina, Portrait of a Man, c.1475 [added]

Eadwine the Scribe, c.1160 *author portrait

[dropped from list/did not see: Castagno, Pippo Spano, c. 1450; van Eyck, Madonna of Chancellor Rolin; Van Dyck, Portrait of Charles I; Fetti, Veil of Veronica]

Terms: devotional portrait; donor portrait; author portrait

Theory & Practice of Portraiture:

*know “Legend of the Corinthian Maiden” and why of significance for portraiture [won’t have to ID the image I showed]

[added] Raphael, School of Athens, 1510 [won’t have to ID]

Term: history painting

[added] Steen, Feastday of St. Nicholas, 1665 [won’t have to ID]

Term: genre painting

[added] Ghirlandaio, Portrait of Old Man and Grandson; preliminary drawing for this painting (sorry this is best image finding!)

[added] Van Eyck, Portrait of Cardinal Albergati; preliminary drawing (done in silverpoint)

Holbein, Lady Guildford (painting), 1527 (drawing)

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, c. 1505

Vigée-Lebrun, Countess Golovin, c.1798

Vigée-Lebrun, Portrait of Calonne, 1784

if you didn’t get a chance to read Vigée-Lebrun’s advice on portrait painting (in coursepack), would be good to look at

Terms: hierarchy of genres (in art) [know position of portraiture within this]

ethos v. pathos

[dropped: Vigée-Lebrun, Countess Bucquoi, 1793 – but you can see it at the MIA!]

[dropped] Titian, Isabella d’Este , 1536

[dropped] Bernini, Portrait Bust of Louis XIV, 1665

Essay Question for Exam 1 (will write in class, 20 pts):

Compare and contrast some of the functions (purposes) of portraits in early modern Europe

vs. present-day American culture; to what extent have some purposes remained the same,

and to what extent have they changed?

In your response, discuss some early modern portraits we’ve seen to support your points (and identify by artist/title).