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Dress, Accessories and Status |
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Where posture, body language and facial
expression provide information about the sitter's mood
and personality, it is in particular the dress and accessories
that give an insight into the subject's circumstances
and situation. Clothes can reflect the fashions of the
period as well as the status and wealth of the sitter.
Accessories and objects included in the portrait act as
clues to the sitter's role, occupation, status, attributes
and abilities. For example, jewellery as well as embroidered
clothing and rich fabrics can denote wealth while the
inclusion of a book may suggest that the sitter is intelligent
and well-read. At times, tools of the trade are included
to indicate the subject's profession. |
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Accessories and Objects: Signs and Symbols |
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Some of the objects that you see in
the works of art on this site give clues about the person
featured. For example, in Diego Velázquez's portrait
of Prince Baltasar
Carlos there are references to the Prince's future
as King of Spain. The royal sash, sword and sceptre-like
staff hint at his destiny as king, while the velvet and
silver materials show his immense wealth and status. Likewise,
in Sully’s portrait of Queen
Victoria, the young monarch is shown wearing a crown,
surrounded by luxurious red velvet and approaching a
throne. Boucher’s portrait of Madame
de Pompadour shows her with a portrait of King Louis XV on her bracelet,
reminding the viewer of her importance as the King’s
confidante. Meanwhile Morland’s Ladies’
Maid is shown with the tools of a trade: namely a
bowl, soap and linen, signifying her role as a maid. |
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Clothes |
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Clothes can indicate the role or status
of a particular sitter, such as Gainsborough’s Dr
Rice Charlton, who, as a doctor, would have been at
a high level in society, and who wears a luxurious blue
coat with gold buttons and a neat wig to reflect this.
Likewise The
Laughing Cavalier wears a beautifully embroidered
jacket indicating his status as someone who could afford
such luxuries. The horns of plenty, bees and arrows featured
on his jacket could also mean that this is a betrothal
portrait – with these elements signifying the pleasures
and pains of love. Meanwhile, the role of Cardinal
Pietro Ottoboni is obviously indicated by his dress:
he wears the cardinal’s costume of the Roman Catholic
Church, with its crimson biretta and robe. |
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Projecting an Image |
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The inclusion of objects and accessories
plays a significant role in projecting a particular
image. The portrait of Napoleon
I in Coronation Robes by Anne-Louis Girodet is full
of motifs of royalty and power. Napoleon was not born
to his position but claimed it. This is a carefully
constructed image featuring objects and accessories
that seek to present him as the rightful Emperor and
as a powerful and ambitious leader: he holds his hand
over the Civil Code, the orb and the Hand of Justice.
His cloak is decorated with golden bees, a reference
to the great Frankish king, Charlemagne. Adding to
the impression of his royal status is a golden crown
of laurel leaves which could signify a crown and/or
be a reference to the Classical tradition of a victor’s
laurel wreath. The sceptre decorated with the imperial
eagle gives reference to his ambitions for conquests
beyond France and an Empire styled on that of the Romans.
Portraits on a less grand scale can also project an
image; in the portrait by David Allan, Lady
Hamilton is shown as an accomplished
wife by playing the harpsichord while Sir
William’s intelligence and interests
are suggested by the inclusion of classical sculpture,
papers and the view of Vesuvius in the distance. |
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| Discussion Points: |
- Using the printable images from this site,
ask the class (in small groups) to look at different
types of portraits and order the sitters in
terms of wealth, simply by looking at their
dress and the objects that surround them.
- Ask the pupils to create their own self-portraits
using mirrors and to add objects which tell
the viewer something of their personality.
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Related
Portraits |
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Diego Velázquez
Prince Baltasar
Carlos in Silver
circa 1633 |
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Thomas Sully
Queen Victoria
1838 |
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François Boucher
Madame de Pompadour
circa 1750 |
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Henry Robert Morland
Lady's Maid Soaping
Linen
circa 1769 |
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Thomas Gainsborough
Dr Rice Charleton
circa 1764 |
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Frans Hals
The Laughing Cavalier
1624 |
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Francesco Trevisani
Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni
1700 |
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Anne-Louis Girodet
Napoleon I in
Coronation Robes
after 1804 |
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David Allan
Portrait of Sir William
and Lady Hamilton 1770 |
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