Capturing Status: Image-making - (Page 4 of 5)

Portraits are one of the best ways of manipulating your image. The portrait of Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester expresses the grand style perfectly, with its emphasis on display. His robes are made of expensive textiles and the highly symbolic Garter jewel shows his importance in society, the Order of the Garter being a very limited membership granted only by the monarch.

Dr. Rice Charleton operates on a more modest stage than Rochester, as a senior consultant doctor in the City of Bath, yet he owns a great 18th century status symbol - a full length portrait by the great painter of the day.