What kinds of portraits exist? History of the genre and modernity

In our vocabulary very often there is a word "portrait". We use it in relation to painting, to literature, to criminology, and also simply in everyday life. In this regard, there are different types of portraits that relate to a particular sphere of life or art. What is characteristic of a portrait, what are its features, what is its uniqueness in comparison with other genres of creativity? Let's consider these issues in more detail.

What is a portrait?

This term refers to the image of a person who lives now, lived before, or is a fictional character of a story or story. In art, portraits can be presented in the form of painting, sculpture or engraving. There are also types of portraits that relate to writing. These are descriptions of the characters of works, characteristics of certain people, criminal data about a particular individual, information about which is needed. The most popular are still considered different types of portraits in the visual arts. They differ in style, color, parameters, paint application, proportions and structure.

Parameters that a portrait can send

This classification implies the following items: a portrait of the head (it shows only the head of a person); Breast portraits or busts (the person is drawn or clasped to the chest); Images of people to the waist; A drawing that shows us a man to the knee; Finally, pictures in full growth. If we consider the types of portraits in terms of the angle of rotation of the model that is depicted, then we will select the following points. In the portrait, a person can be faced to us - this is the face. His face or figure can be turned to us in three quarters or be sideways to the audience - this is the profile. Rarely in painting there are portraits, where a person turns his back to us. In all these cases, the main criterion of the portrait is the maximum similarity of the model that posed, with the result, which turned out on the canvas of the creator or in his sculpture. This work of art should transmit as much as possible not only static facial features and proportions, but also the emotional aura of the one who is portrayed.

How people depicted in ancient times

The very first types of portraits in painting are sculptures. They are found in the whole of the Ancient East, as well as in ancient countries. Such works of art in those days were made for people who occupied important places in society. They were rulers, public figures and creators. Sculptures have always accurately conveyed the facial features and emotional color of the one who was depicted with their help. Often such creations became funerary monuments for their masters. To us, the sculptures of these ancient times allow us to reconstruct a picture of the past and to understand what kind of people lived in those times.

Medieval Painting

In the Middle Ages, certain types of portraits appear in the visual arts. Rulers, church leaders and important secular people are already depicted on canvases. To distinguish faces on such portraits was almost impossible - they all had similar features, however, like the figures of people. The painting was always conveyed more atmosphere, which was imbued with religion and theology. Donatorial portraits were popular. They depicted a man who made a donation for a particular Catholic church. He was always surrounded by cherubs or with Jesus in his arms, like the Virgin Mary. An analogue of such images were ktitor's portraits, which were popular not only among Catholics, but also in the Orthodox world.

Revival and further centuries

Approximately from the 15th century, people realized that a portrait is a kind of art, and not just a means of conveying information. Since then, the creative boundaries of society have significantly expanded. Allegorical portraits became popular, where the model was always depicted in clothes that conveyed her emotions, character, and often such pictures were greatly exaggerated. A little later (18 century), artists began to draw genre portraits. On them, people were portrayed as full-length, and on the chest. The essence of the work was that the whole picture had a certain color. It was either an aura of tenderness, or a kind of brutal picture, etc. Also, in the Renaissance, various kinds of subjective portraits arose. And now we will consider what exactly such masterpieces are characterized.

Portrait, written "from the head"

This term refers to those pictures of people in which they are depicted not in the way they look in reality, but in the way they appear to the artist. The Creator can change the proportions, change facial features, make a person more cheerful or more sad. Often, in order to draw a subjective portrait, the model is not required. The artist can restore pictures of reality and his fantasies in his head, and then transfer it all to the canvas. Today, there are separate types of subjective portraits from painting. The following can be attributed to them: a photobot, the restoration of the features of the deceased due to the technique and memory of eyewitnesses, the imposition of a makeup on the face of one person so that it becomes like the other.

Our days

The types of portraits that occur today are very different from those that were popular in society before. All people today are photographed, not drawn, because their facial features , facial expressions and emotions are transmitted with the utmost precision. Among modern portraits there are also genre: public, intimate, individual, chamber, and also selfi - the most common portrait of our time.