5 quotes found
"The unusual personality of is reflected in an extraordinary number of portraits. They begin in his early youth, and do not end with his death. They continue during the and periods, and all subsequent periods down to modern times. The portraits of Alexander not only reflect the different phases of his short life but become an artistic motif for all following periods."
"The fact that some of the noblest and most highly esteemed examples that survive to us of the best days of painting are those of portraiture is sufficient demonstration of the dignity of the art itself. To produce a portrait is to do much more than make a mere study of a head. Qualities of , balance of light and shade, appropriate accessories, and many other elements of a pictorial æsthetic nature combine to give dignity to the and mark it as a work of art."
"Independent portrait sculpture was revived around the middle of the in three main forms—the , the , and the . Equestrian monuments are over life-size, they were made by public decree, and were displayed in public places. Sculptured busts are life-size, were privately commissioned, and were displayed on private property. Medals are small in scale, they might be commissioned officially or privately, and they were intended for a selected audience that did not include the public at large but extended beyond the sitter's personal domain. ... None of these classes of portraiture had actually disappeared during the middle ages, but when they occurred they were included within some physical and conceptual context, such as church and tomb decoration, or ordinary coinage ..."
"... It is part of the gift of time to us that a portrait, if only done ably, at last satisfies the generation which knew not the man portrayed. Even to old folk who once “saw Shelley plain,” and yet grow forgetful of the man's infinite variety, the portrait may serve."
""Commemoration" was a particularly important function of portraiture. 's well-known dictum on the ability of paintings to preserve the likeness of men after their deaths was an expression of faith in the magical victory of art over time, as if painting could overcome death. It is significant in this respect that the portrait itself is descended from the tomb effigy or least was originally associated with this art form. Examples of likenesses of deceased persons — usually members of the high clergy — in the form of reliefs or sculptures on altar tombs date from as early as the high or late Middle Ages: the tombstone of Archbishop Friederich of Wettin (c. 1152) at , for example, or that of (), shown in crowning two reduced-scale kings. Links between the portrait and the cult of the dead may be traced back to antique art. In Roman times and kept in the shrine in the of s."