The portrait
It's not a secret that a portrait takes the special place in art and it is extremely popular. The word
“portrait” comes from the French “portaire” and means “to image exactly”. The tradition to
decorate a house with the images of nearest and dearest is very old. From the early times rich
people invited the artists to paint the portraits of the household.
The portrait is an independent genre which aim is to image the appearance of the person and to
show the character and the inside world. To show the psychological condition of the model is the
main problem of the portraitist.
The portrait painting counts history of several thousand of years. The carvings, murals of Ancient
Egypt, statues of Ancient Greece tell about the desire to portray people. The blossoming of the
genre happened in the Renaissance epoch. It is connected with the names of such masters as Titian
and Charles de Moretti. The portrait techniques developed in the 18th
century. Group portraits and oil painted portraits became popular. Rubens, Rembrandt, Poussin, Leonardo da Vinci, and Rafael
were connected with that period.
Nowadays, when the photography is invented, the portrait painting doesn't take a back seat.
Photography can't be compared with a portrait if we judge the atmosphere, expression and contents.