#ROYAL PORTRAITS SERIES#

Part II collects together and analyses the major surviving portraits, grouped broadly by time and place, and Part III sets them in the wider political context of the period.

They gave a visual presentation of royal ideology and expressed the basis of the king's power in a personal godlike charisma.

Part I looks at the historical setting of royal portrait statues, which functioned as an important medium of exchange between the king and the Greek cities. Royal portraits survive on coins and in sculpture, and we read about them in inscriptions and literature - evidence that is here combined to give an historical interpretation of the royal image from Alexander to Kleopatra. The visual image of the ruler, particularly in sculpture, played an important role in expressing the character of the new, distinctive style of monarchy brought to Greece and the East by Alexander and the Hellenistic kings. Oxford Research Encyclopedias: Global Public Health.Living in a castle, having servants wait on you hand and foot. Our cultures have always wandered what it would be like to be part of a royal household. The idea of a royal family invokes images of glamor, elegance, and grandeur.

#ROYAL PORTRAITS SERIES#

The European Society of Cardiology Series The Ugliest Royal Portraits of All Time Alli - OctoRoyal families.Oxford Commentaries on International Law.John Wonnacott, Royal Family, 2000, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK. Critics might say that this is one of the richest and most pampered dynastic families in the world, who luxuriate in their royal plunder while many of the ordinary children of Britain fail to thrive in conditions of poverty and neglect. The mirror artfully recreates this wealth into infinity behind them. 14 Pictures Historic British royal portraits go on display in US for first time Written by Oscar Holland, CNN A collection of British royal portraits, some of which have never been shown. This is an opulent palace massed with gold, brocade and priceless treasures. But gaze into the background and you will see that this is nevertheless no ordinary family snap.

It seems like the kind of snap that could be captured at any family gathering – Grandma with the youngest babe on her lap, older grandchildren standing rather awkwardly and self-consciously, moreover the comedic little Miss bossy boots hauling up Grandma’s oversized handbag. In this official photograph, the oldest and newest generations of royals smile together for the camera. Look at this beautifully arranged portrait of the young Queen Victoria, her beloved Albert, and their five children.Īnnie Leibowitz, The official photograph to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday, 2016, London, UK. The security of the dynastic line is emphasized as we begin to see the royal family pictured – husbands, wives, and children. These props evidently give us all kinds of clues and narratives about the lives of the Royals. We also begin to see more of their homes, their land and their wealth. And perhaps most importantly for a modern audience, their eyes finally meet ours.Īrmada Portrait, 1588, Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire, UK. Objects with symbolic meaning are often included. Now we see more of their body, their clothes, and their surroundings. Around the 1500s the sitter starts to turn towards us, the viewer. In Western art, scholars believe portraiture begins with the ancient Egyptians’ stylized profile portraits, continuing through the Greeks to the Romans. Painted portraits have historically been the privilege of the great and the good (and perhaps the not-so-good!). Smiling next to King Charles III, Camilla. Royal portraiture is a centuries-old tradition, but it might be called the forerunner of the posed selfie – an artfully curated image that is meant to promote and aggrandize the subject. Photographer Hugo Burnand shot the royals in a spring daylight look in the Blue Drawing Room in Buckingham Palace, as he described on an Instagram post.