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Portraits in Paint

Faces painted from life, from Renaissance panels to Gilded Age canvases. A portrait was a record, a likeness and often a statement of standing, and the best of them still hold the sitter's attention across a room.

24 works · hang 3523 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

First flight

  1. Portrait of a Woman as Saint Catherine, by Pier Francesco Foschi, c. 1560
    Portrait of a Woman as Saint CatherinePier Francesco Foschi, c. 1560Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. A work made of hanging scroll; ink and color on silk.
    Portrait of an OfficialGu Jianlong, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), 17th centuryCourtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Portrait of a Young Girl with Rose, by Oliver Tarbell Eddy, ca. 1838
    Portrait of a Young Girl with RoseOliver Tarbell Eddy, ca. 1838Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  4. Artist: Charles Willson Peale, Sitter: Charles Willson Peale, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
    Charles Willson Peale Self-PortraitCharles Willson Peale, c. 1791Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

First landing

  1. The portrait shows the upper half of a seated woman with a round face, wrinkles, and dark hair. She wears a bonnet, a brown dress with layers, and a shawl or cloak. The background is a muted dark brown.
    Portrait of a LadyUnrecorded maker, probably c. 1820Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Portrait of Constance PipeletJean Baptiste François Désoria, 1797Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Portrait of Young Man
    Portrait of Young ManUnrecorded makerCourtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  4. A young woman with a pale, peachy skin is shown from waist up, wearing a shimmering, royal-blue dress in this vertical painting. Her body is angled to our right as she holds a metal object, perhaps a vessel or incense burner, in her hands by her chest. She turns and tilts her head to our left, but then looks back across her body, off to our right with flint-gray eyes. She has a full, oval-shaped face with a straight nose, smooth cheeks, and her pale pink lips are closed. A gray pearl earring hangs from the ear we can see. Her auburn-brown hair is parted down the middle, and loosely pulled back into a braid that brushes her left shoulder, to our right. The blue dress has a square neckline and a fitted bodice. Light glints off the fabric, shading it from royal to sapphire blue. A voluminous white sleeve is rolled back to her right elbow, to our left. That arm and hand nearly span the width of the painting as she holds the vessel, which has a conical top, near the lower right corner of the composition. The background is solid black.
    Portrait of a Young Woman as a Wise VirginSebastiano del Piombo, c. 1510Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Second flight

  1. Portrait of a monk, possibly Chen Nga Tshultrim Bar, extending a blessing, late 11th–early 12th century
    Portrait of a monk, possibly Chen Nga Tshultrim Bar, extending a blessingUnrecorded Himalayan maker, late 11th–early 12th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Lineage Portrait of an Abbot, ca. 1350
    Lineage Portrait of an AbbotUnrecorded Himalayan maker, ca. 1350Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Portrait of Dora Wheeler, by William Merritt Chase, 1882–83
    Portrait of Dora WheelerWilliam Merritt Chase, 1882–83Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  4. Portrait of the artist’s great-granduncle Yizhai at the age of eighty-five, by Ruan Zude, dated 1561 or 1621
    Portrait of the artist’s great-granduncle Yizhai at the age of eighty-fiveRuan Zude, dated 1561 or 1621Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second landing

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Portrait of a GirlFrancesco Solimena, c. 1700Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Portrait of a Young Man, by Antonello da Messina (Antonello di Giovanni d'Antonio), ca. 1470
    Portrait of a Young ManAntonello da Messina (Antonello di Giovanni d'Antonio), ca. 1470Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Portrait of Colonel Charles Heathcote, by Joseph Wright of Derby, c. 1771–72
    Portrait of Colonel Charles HeathcoteJoseph Wright of Derby, c. 1771–72Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  4. Painting of bearded, ruddy-faced man in eighteenth century style clothing.
    Portrait of a Man in CostumeJean Honoré Fragonard, c. 1767–68Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago