How to read a portrait

Lesson objective

Learn about historical portraits, artistic styles, what choices were made, context and how to analyse them.

Overview

Take a look at some of the historical portraits in our archives of medical staff at Salisbury Infirmary.  Can these portraits tell us more about the sitter?  And the historical context of the time?

Some examples to use:

• Mr & Mrs Tatum, Pastel, 1783
• Benjamin Brodie, Mezzotint, 1821
• Adeline Cable, 1925

Mr Tatum's portrait by Margaret King

Portrait of Catherine Pike by Margaret King

Benjamin Brodie 1821

Adeline Cable, Matron at Infirmary

Lesson starter

When do people have a formal portrait made/taken?  Do you have any at home? (eg. Family event, school photo) How are these different to selfies?

Main lesson

Look for stylistic elements within the portrait:

• Sitter: Who is the sitter, do we know anything about them?
• Caption: Does the portrait have a label or title?
• Artist: Do we know anything about the artist?
• Media: What is the portrait made with?
• Date: Do we know when it was made?
• Clothing: Is the sitter wearing a uniform or fashion statement?
• Hair: How is it styled, do they have a hat or wig?
• Composition: can you see head and shoulders, seated, full length, side profile or full face?
• Gaze: Is the sitter looking at you?
• Gesture: Is the sitter doing an action?
• Setting: Where is the sitter, are there any clues to location or other objects in the portrait?
• Historical context: Do you know anything about the time that this portrait was made?  Were there any major events that may have made a difference to the design?

Looking at these elements what do these things tell you about the sitter?  Are they relaxed, formal, are they saying something about their professional status?  Who were the portraits for?  What else might they be used for? (eg. Adeline’s portrait for a magazine article).

Follow-up activities

• If you were to design a portrait of yourself, describe what would it look like? Think again about all these elements such as clothes, locations, objects and so on.
• Draw a sketch too.

Read our analysis of the 3 portraits

• https://salisburyhealthcarehistory.uk/two-pastel-portraits-by-margaret-king/
• https://salisburyhealthcarehistory.uk/brodies-bone-studies/
• https://salisburyhealthcarehistory.uk/adeline-cable/

Plenary

What have you learnt about portraits?  Do they tell us more than just a good likeness of the sitter (what they look like) or more about the person, their character and historic times?