Portraiture
Women of Influence, Marquise de Pompadour
French painter François Boucher (1703-1770) produced many of the images that we have of the enigmatic Jeanne Antoinette, Marquise de Pompadour, Maîtresse-en-titre, or the official Mistress of Louis XV of France.
Women of Influence, Angelica Kauffmann
As far as women are concerned the Age of Reason in the eighteenth century was inappropriately named. This was a period when the role of women, especially in a professional sphere, took a retrograde step. Private salons hosted by wealthy and powerful women reached the height of their influence at this time with many voices raised in favour of women’s rights, but to no avail. An increasing emphasis was being placed on family life and the role of women was being re-defined all over Europe and England as one that ideally remained in the home.
Women of Influence, Diane de Poitiers
If beauty was accompanied by intelligence those who used both attributes skilfully seemed to have been the most successful. Fifteenth century beauty Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566) was considered an ‘ardent feminist sure of her own worth – and a child of her time’. She had all the attributes, plus a strong will and a great strength of purpose. These were both very necessary skills for survival in the world of political intrigue that surrounded the court of the last medieval and first Renaissance King of France Francois I whose court was the envy of Europe.
What Is: Portraiture – Restoration to Romantics
Portraiture is at the heart of British Art. In 1707 the Act of Union brought England and Scotland together under one flag and parliament as Great Britain. The new Britons felt an urge to national self-definition and artist William Hogarth (1697-1764) championed the idea of establishing a native school of artists. The roots for portraiture [...]
What is: Portraiture – Ancient Egypt to Medieval England
So what is the test of a great portrait? Is it empathy, the power of the artist to enter into the sitter’s emotions and convey their feelings so that we may also experience empathy?
Asides
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