An allegorical portrait is a type of image in which one seeks to exalt or represent a particular person or situation, with the aim of describing and highlighting the characteristics that most favor it.
For example, during the Renaissance era in Europe, allegorical portraits in paintings or sculptures sought to praise kings, nobles, and wealthy merchants, attributing real or fictitious qualities to inspire respect or authority.
At present, this type of plastic or photographic technique is still used to represent presidents, heroes or figures of power.
origins
The origins of the allegorical portrait could be located in the first drawings made by man to represent life situations, such as the environment in which he lived, nature, hunting, fishing, among other aspects.
The allegories in this type of painting are observed in the Altamira caves in Spain, in the Mayan plastic and even in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, which had a symbolic and allegorical character.
During the Renaissance period in the Middle Ages this technique had its greatest expression when it was used by the great masters of painting: Leonardo Da Vinci, Sandro Boticelli, Jacques Daret, Piero di Cosimo, Charles Dauphin, Nicoales Maes or Charles Beaubrun.
Some of the most representative works of the allegorical portrait of these artists are: Luisa de Savoya as Sibylla Agrippa (1430), the Portrait of Catherina Sforza as Santa Caterina (1475) and the Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci as Cleopatra (1480).
Similarly, in the portraits of Maria Cristina of France as Minerva (1640), the young Louis XIV as Jupiter (1645), the Portrait of Molliere as Julius Caesar (1658), the Portrait of a Child as Cupid (1660) or in the sculpture of Napoleon as peacemaker Mars.
characteristics
The first portraits of European nobility in the Middle Ages began as allegories. Artists used to draw portraits of their demanding clients according to their tastes and quirks.
Customer faces were often placed on the bodies of saints or deities. They were the so-called donor portraits, in which the fantasies of the clients were recreated.
Painters portrayed noble or wealthy people in fantastic roles and robes. They were given attributes of goddesses, Greek nymphs, or muses, and could appear in rustic and pastoral scenes, so that clients could pretend to be simple shepherds or gardeners.
For example, women could show their bodies, their legs or breasts, posing as another person, disguised as characters such as Cleopatra, Minerva, Flora or Venus. These types of allegorical portraits used to be made for lovers.
Kings appeared as gods, with angels around them; women could be seen commanding troops, as courtesans or nuns.
Some of these paintings without the respective disguise would have been a real scandal at that time.
Today, allegorical portraits continue to be depicted in paintings, sculptures and photographs, especially for powerful clients such as presidents or kings.
It is very common to see images of these people with traits of a hero or deity, to make them resemble the attributes, prestige or characteristics that they had.
It is also common to see revolutionary figures raising a flag as a symbol of freedom.
References
- Allegorical Portraits. Retrieved on November 27, 2017 from jeannedepompadour.blogspot.com
- allegorical portraiture. Consulted of brittanica.com
- Types of portrait. Consulted of types.co
- Sener Wayne: The Origins of Writing (1992). 21st century Publishers. Recovered from books.google.co.ve
- Italian Renaissance - Art in Spain. Consulted of arteespana.com
- Allegorical portrait. Consulted of goodtasks.com