The Italian legal tradition called for the public display of a humiliating—but recognizable—portrait of the disgraced person.

While some viewed photography as a competitor for their customers, Dutch portrait painters reaped the benefits of the emerging medium.

How do the artistic inspirations that portrait artist Amy Sherald cites for Michelle Obama’s dress impact our visual and cultural understanding of the portrait for the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery?

Official portraits have been a means of communicating intention and creating image throughout history. Consider three of France's iconic leaders.