PURPOSE OF PORTRAITDanielle Fuller, Hanna Shields & Becky Howarth

IN THE BEGINNINGIn the beginning the main component to art was religious figures.

Augustus used portraiture when he became emperor, he had a statue made of himself which portrayed the following things: The finger pointing upwards to show he will take Rome

forward No facial expressions to show he is calm and looks like a

fair honest man His clothes are the same as your average man but

strong to show he will defend Rome He has no crown which shows he’s not trying to be king The little angle next to him shows even gods favour him.

LATER ON

Once portrait became more well know Kings and Queens started to use them. The reason for this was because portraits were very expensive, therefore it showed that the Kings and Queens were wealthy. They had them done to portray their high status.

The poor people did not commission to have their portrait done because they could not afford it and it is possible that they felt they did not have high enough status to have their portrait done. But, around 1400 to 1600 ordinary wealthy people started to commission portraits.

FIRST PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE

In 1837 the first photographic process was discovered, could record exactly what a person looked like and was much cheaper than a painting.

Photographic portraits can capture more of everyday moments more easier than a painting. They can capture facial expressions quickly whereas with a painting someone has to hold their expression whilst someone paints it. The image to the right shows how an image has captured a shocked expression.

AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Once photography was discovered in 1837, painters had to up their game in order to compete with the photographers. In addition, it allowed them to be more abstract within their work as the photographers were capturing an exact of what the person looked like. So it allowed them to interpret and paint people in different ways.

After the discovery of photography many portrait painters became photographers. Many of the artists who wanted to carry on painting now experimented by portraying the world in new and exciting ways.

WHAT IS PORTRAIT USED FOR?

In the modern world portrait is used to make people want to buy or look at things. Its main purpose is advertising and often people are portrayed within advertising to be something they are not. In addition, it is also used to create memories for people such as weddings and other special events that are important to people.

This has changed from when it was first introduced because it was first used to show status and separate the wealthiest from the poor. Where as today, it is a thing that most people can afford to have done and is very common for people to have their portraits done, especially families.