Self-portrait
A self-portrait is a portrait where the artist is also the subject. Usually it is in the form of a painting, drawing, or similar graphic image
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However, self-portraits occur in other media such as sculpture, photography, cinema, literature, etc... The latter portion of this list moves more toward what would commonly be called autobiography. Sometimes artists place their own image into group portraits, such as Diego Velázquez in Las Meninas. Some artists use likeness of themselves to portray other characters : the entire oeuvre of photographer Cindy Sherman is in this mode. Some artists who suffered neurological diseases left self-portraits of themselves that have allowed later physicians to analyze disruptions of mental proccesses; and many of these analyses have entered into the textbooks of neurology.
Antiquity
Images of artists at work are encountered in Ancient Egyptian painting, and also on Ancient Greek vases. One of first mentions of the self-portrait of a specific artist is encountered in the writings of the Ancient Greek philosopher and biographer Plutarch, who writes that the Ancient Greek sculptor Phidias had included a likeness of himself in a number of characters in the composition "Battle of the Amazons" in the Parthenon. The battle of the Greeks with the Amazons was carved on the panel of the statue of Athena, and also on the western wall of the temple.
Renaissance
Italian painter and architect Giotto di Bondone (1267—1337) included himself in the cycle of "eminent men" in the Castle of Naples.
Italian painter Masaccio (1401—1428) depicted himself as one of the apostles in the painting of the Brancacci Chapel.
Tuscan painter Sandro Botticelli (1447—1515) makes himself the hero of the Adoration of the Magi.
The best known image of Leonardo da Vinci many researchers consider his only self-portrait, a late work. However, other art critics contend that the attribution of this work as Leonardo's own is not completely proven. A case has also been made, originally by novelist Dmitry Merezhkovsky, that Leonardo based his famous picture Mona Lisa on his own self-portrait.
Both Raphael, and Michelangelo depicted themselves. It is assumed that Michelangelo gave a likeness of his own face to the image of the flayed skin of St. Bartholomew in The Last Judgment at the Sistine Chapel.
Titian's The Allegory of Age Governed by Prudence (c. 1565-70) is thought to depict Titian, his son Orazio, and a young cousin, Marco Vecellio. In the opinion of critics, this has a deep philosophical content. Titian also painted a late self-portrait in the year 1566.
Albrecht Dürer executed more than fifty self-portraits. The first (drawn in silver pencil) was created when he was thirteen years old. At age twenty-two Dürer composed the self-portrait with carnation (1493, Louvre). The Madrid self-portrait (1498, Prado) depicts Durer as a person of solid abundance, who has attained renown. In another self-portrait, the artist depicted himself in the guise of Jesus Christ (Munich, Alte Pinakothek).
Rembrandt executed a large number of self-portraits as well. At one time were about 90 pictures were counted as Rembrandt self-portraits. However, analysis showed that 20 of these "self-portraits" were, in reality, executed by other artists. Rejected, for example, was the "self-portrait" acquired by a Stuttgart gallery in 1962. Recently discovered was the smallest self-portrait of Rembrandt, which is eight inches in height and about seven inches wide.
Post-Impressionism
Van Gogh made more than twenty self-portraits in only two years. Among the most prolific self-portraitists was Frida Kahlo, who depicted herself 55 times.
cf : wikipedia
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