FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE “SELFIE”: Portraiture through the Ages

Join Art Historian Elaine Ruffolo for a virtual presentation through the history of portraiture. What profile picture do you have on your social media account? How do you want to be portrayed, regarded, and remembered? Portraiture is a very old art form going back to ancient Egypt, where it flourished from about 5,000 years ago. Before the invention of photography, a painted, sculpted, or drawn portrait was the only way to record the appearance of someone. Portraits can represent individuals in many different ways. They can be literal representations of a person or they can represent a person symbolically. But portraits have always been more than just a record. They have been used to show the power, importance, virtue, beauty, wealth, taste, learning, or other qualities of the sitter.