From Picture to Portrait

You will have noticed that many of the paintings on this storey show people – contemporaries of the artists – who have been placed apart from the holy figures. This is also true of the small triptych in the glass case in this room. These depictions are called donor portraits, which means that the sitter commissioned and paid for the work. Apart from their financial involvement, the painting would depict the donor’s piety and closeness to God, making them role models.

Earlier donor portraits disclose nothing of the donor’s features. We know from historical warrants that a person’s clothing was regarded as more important, and views as an unchangeable feature. This can be explained by the dress codes which, especially in cities, stipulated exactly who should wear what. In paintings, information on a person’s social rank and identity was often provided by coats of arms. And the position on the painting was also important to the donors: close to the cross, or more modestly on the wings of a triptych.

The self-contained portrait showing a likeness of the person who commissioned it came into being in the 15th century, and developed a wide variety of forms and functions. Men would use their portraits to woo brides who lived far away; after the wedding, the portrait of the wife would be added to that of the man. Artists even made double portraits that were joined together by hinges (Gallery 13), or pairs of portraits that fitted together like a box and lid. From then on, details in the sitter’s attributes pointed to their aims or qualities – as had previously been true of the saints.

Private portraits like those shown here were not painted in front of the live model. The painter used a drawing, and studied the person’s costume separately – perhaps by hanging it on a clothes valet.