This thesis argues that Raphael's portrait, Baldassare Castiglione, is three portraits in one: 1) a "speaking likeness" of the subject, 2) a portrait of the "perfect" courtier, and 3) a "shadow" portrait of the Court of Urbino in the early sixteenth century. The formal analysis of the painting is presented in the context of the paragone of word and image expounded by its subject in his masterpiece, Il Cortegiano. Both author and artist demonstrate the concepts of sprezzatura (an artful artlessness) and grazia (graceful elegance) in the creation of their portraits, as well as avoidance of affetazione (affectation). It is concluded that Raphael's response to the challenge of the text/image paragone in Il Cortegiano determined the formal choices he made as he painted his friend Baldassare Castiglione.

In our present image-laden environment that only seems to keep growing, the nature of how we see and interpret this visual information becomes highly relevant for me in my art. Spectacle, nostalgia, notions of portraiture, theatricality and other visual reflections of our present culture industry, are all elements that I address in my work. It is with these ideas in mind that I construct visual fields where disparate forms and images coexist, forming new narratives aside from their individual isolated implications; incorporating art production methods that construct an evolving dichotomy that contains a sense of play, tension, and irony while evoking references to our current social experiences. Keywords: spectacle, nostalgia, portraiture, collective consciousness, culture industry

This thesis considers the interrelation between gender, national identity and elite family life in Scotland between 1740 and 1790. Family group portraits painted by Scottish artists of Scottish families are examined and contrasted with English counterparts to demonstrate the evolving nature of Scottish identity as performed in the domestic sphere in the period under consideration. The principal primary sources used are family portraits, alongside letters and other archival material and contemporaneous printed texts. In the first section (chapters 1-3) the centrality of dynasty as an on-going elite concern will be established and the role that portraiture played in establishing, asserting and maintaining dynastic claims and elite status are revealed. As is shown, this concern was shared by aristocrats, gentry, the merchant and intellectual elite. The idea is introduced that the 'family group portrait' does not necessarily simply exist in one frame but may be depicted across several canvases, nevertheless conceived as a coherent whole, and shows that they were intended to interact with the building in which they were hung. The notion that conversation pieces, notable for their informal presentation of family relations, represented a shift in attitude to the importance of lineage and primogeniture will be questioned. A close reading of these portraits shows that old concerns of propriety, gendered roles and dynastic concerns remain central to the conversation piece. In the second section (chapters 4-6), the focus will move from the family as a whole to particular familial relations; nuptial, maternal and paternal. In each case, the correlation between these domestic relationships and the political affairs of Scotland, be that the Jacobite cause or Enlightenment, will be revealed. The chapter on motherhood will highlight that, while patrons commissioned portraits of sentimental motherhood, old concerns of lineage were deeply embedded within these. The matter of fatherhood is one that had been, until recently, rather overlooked by scholars and the chapter dedicated to it in this thesis highlights the centrality of paternity to elite Scottish masculinity. This thesis will demonstrate the centrality of gender to the depiction of elite family life and examine the peculiarly Scottish nature of these pictorial performances. In so doing the thesis offers a contribution to the history of gender and family life in Scotland.

Personages from my past and present have spoken to me in a familiar language that demanded a translation of their own ‘essence’ into visual form. Using the methods exampled by Cézanne and Matisse, I have sought to create portraits that are revelations of both the sitters and myself. The totality of an individual’s being is ineffable. Thus, the task of the portrait artist is limited to an evocation. ‘Essence’, attributes that identify a unique entity provide the necessary links to this act of re-creation. While some subjects depict strangers, the majority have developed from physiological and psychological investigations of individuals I have known. Drawing delivers form to a portrait. While the likeness of a sitter initially resides in the eye and the mind of the artist, conversion of this mental image into a visible representation requires the physical engagement of the artist and her medium.

Dante Alighieri, as we understand him and read his poetry, is a construct crafted from posthumous portraiture. Dante’s famous profile appears at a pivotal transition point from icon to image, where the aura of the saint is transferred to the poet. In this aesthetic creation of identity, portraits and visual representations of Dante are influenced by, and in turn influence, commentaries, translations, and biographies of the poet. This visual and textual synergy is called textual physiognomy, and it reaches an important juncture point in the 19th century, when Dante Gabriel Rossetti—as both artist, critic, and translator of Dante—creates a new and influential alternative to the traditional Dantean identity. Rossetti challenges the Dante the 19th century had taken for granted as fact: the divine “poet saturnine,” with “hatchet” profile, aquiline nose, austere face, and laurel crown. Through his iconoclastic approach to the Dantean portraiture tradition, Rossetti gives Dante a new life by emphasizing the human Dante, the pre-exile Dante before the Divine Comedy.

The focus of this study was to analyze the way in which my family members viewed education after immigrating from México to the United States. I used portraiture methodology to conduct interviews and narratives of the maternal and paternal sides of my family. They were all in agreement that education is important, and that it is a key tool for social mobility here in the United States. These ideas were consistent throughout the interviews, regardless of generational status and regardless of whether the person attended college or not. The differences came in the experiences of navigating the educational system in this country. There was a stark contrast between the paths to success of my maternal and paternal sides of the family. I propose that because my dad's side of the family immigrated sooner and assimilated faster in American society, they were able to take advantage of more resources available to them. Their view of and goals for a higher education were more established and attainable than for the members of my mom’s side of the family who faced different barriers including having to learn English.

The political significance of portraits of Charlotte of Saxe Coburg Gotha (1840- 1927) has been obscured by her historical liminality and by romantic myths that have prevailed since the late nineteenth century and influenced interpretations of her visual representations. This thesis reassembles a wide range of images of Charlotte and analyzes these as sequential representations of an individual participating, across diverse cultures, in defining episodes of the nineteenth century. Strategies of allegory, programmatic intertextuality, and revisionism are revealed when these images are read within their political circumstances of production and complicate the dominance of a few late, iconic portraits of Charlotte and their entrenched associations. The use of costume, essential in certain portraits commissioned during Charlotte’s childhood in Belgium, is revisited in images depicting her during a brief position as Vicereine of Lombardy- Venetia and in another dating from her role - of equal brevity but indelible historical resonance - as Empress of Mexico. The significance of dress is explored in relation to agency and political influence and as demonstrating compliance with, or negotiation of, gender conventions. Charlotte’s public life was abruptly terminated upon her 1866 return to Europe by a diagnosis of ‘madness.’ Napoleon III was withdrawing troops supporting the Mexican Empire and her journey was made seeking to reverse this decision. I speculate a painting by French artist Edouard Manet allegorically records this episode of Charlotte’s life and that other factors relating to this episode subsequently influenced the erasure of her imperial images until their reappearance in the twentieth century. / Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2008-11-28

This study explores the paradoxical nature of cultural norms of feminine perfection and the strategies women employ to manage those paradoxes. Following an analysis of the cultural discourses surrounding women and perfection, this study uses portraiture to highlight how five women face perfection in their lives. Portraiture as a method employs careful, detailed narratives of a participant. The portraits from five participants, from different generations, ethnicities, races, and socio-economic backgrounds are provided and analyzed. Each portrait participant in this study represented a facet of feminine perfection, such as physical, relational, or career. From these portraits, distinct management strategies emerged. While each participant experienced perfection in unique ways, they all were able to transcend the paradoxical tensions of perfection by framing and creating boundaries around how they would personally manage perfection. These accounts suggest that women work within the constraints of cultural norms to create stable identities.

This paper considers how the tradition of self-portraiture and alternative process photography can be used in conjunction with one another to perform the uncanny. I discuss the "uncanny" through three theoretical lenses: Sigmund Freud, Hal Foster, and Rosalind Krauss. I then go on to discuss how the "uncanny" has been used in alternative processes of contemporary work by examining Robert Heinecken and Joyce Neimanas. Finally by looking at Francesca Woodman's self-portraiture, I address how self-portraiture can be a type of performance and how this influenced my own series during my 2015 Fall semester. As a whole this paper addresses how my senior thesis work functions within art theory and art history.

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