Full textSee used
West, Shearer. The Functions of Portraiture
2004, In: Portraiture, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 43-69.
Added by: Hans Maes
Summary: Posits that aesthetic value has only rarely been the primary inspiration in the commissioning, display, and reception of portraits. Discusses the different functions that portraits and portrait collections have fulfilled. Includes sections on the portrait as biography, the portrait as document, the portrait as proxy and gift, the portrait as commemoration and memorial, the portrait as political tool.

Comment: A central text for classes on portraiture. Very useful in any classes focusing on non-aesthetic function of art.

Artworks to use with this text:

Anonymous, after an engraving by Simon Van de Passe, Pocahontas (after 1616)

Words painted on a portrait were often important in establishing the authenticity of the likeness, but in this case that claim is misleading, as this portrait was a third-hand image. Moreover, Pocahantos is depicted as white, described as a Christian convert, and principally identified as the wife of John Rolfe.

Jean-Étienne Liotard, Portrait of Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone at 7 years of age (1755-6)

Because pastel portraits rendered the person both lifelike and seemingly touchable, they potentially had an erotic and fetishistic quality and were collected obsessively.

Export citation in BibTeX format

Export text citation

View this text on PhilPapers

Export citation in Reference Manager format

Export citation in EndNote format

Export citation in Zotero format


Share on Facebook
Share on LinkedIn
Share by Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *