L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e ~ D o s t o ï e v s k i

L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e  ~  D o s t o ï e v s k i



Sunday, March 27, 2016

The calculated pose - gestural male portraits


Portrait of a Young Man (thought to be a self portrait), by Michiel Sweerts, 1656.

History shows us that, when posing for his portrait, the male is quite as likely as his female counterpart to strike the telling attitude, to make a calculated declaration of self for posterity. Whether it reads as pompously aggressive, "artistic", elegantly pensive, seignorial, or self-consciously "natural", it all comes down to a personal propaganda.

Portrait of a Young Nobleman in Hunting Dress, by Nicolas de Largillière, circa 1730.
Portrait of a Young Man, by Bronzino, circa 1530s.
Portrait of a Man in Armour (French Marshal), by Sébastien Bourdon, circa 1760s.
James II when Duke of York, by Sir Peter Lely, circa 1665-70.
John Bours, by John Singleton Copley, 1763.
A Portrait of a Man in Armour, by Jacopo Bassano, circa 1560.
Unknown, circa 16th century.
François Boucher, by Gustaf Lundberg, 1741.
Count Kirill Razumovsky, by Jean-Louis Tocqué, 1758.
The Artist in His Museum, by Charles Willson Peale, 1822.
Self-Portrait (Man with Leather Belt), by Gustave Courbet, 1845-46.
Self-Portrait, by Anthony Van Dyck, 1634.
Self-portrait, by Paulus Moreelse, circa 1630-34.
Self-Portrait, by Charles-Antoine Coypel, 1734.
Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1782.



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