Vernyaeva T.A., Sukhodolsky G.V. typological portraits of professional communities

Interpretation genre form a work begins with its title, which is the most important component of the text. Some memoirs dedicated to contemporaries can be distinguished from other works of memoirs just by reading the titles of the works or their table of contents. “My lunar friend. About Blok", "Obsessed. About Bryusov", "Thoughtful Wanderer. About Rozanov" and other portraits make up the collection "Living Faces" by Z. Gippius. “Berdyaev”, “Alexander Benois”, “Andrei Bely” - these are the chapters of B. Zaitsev’s book “Distant”. “Necropolis” by V. Khodasevich includes the chapters “Bryusov”, “Andrei Bely”, “Muni”, “Gumilyov and Blok”... Such a nomination of chapters of works, of course, is not mandatory, but it is indicative.

We attribute the listed works to such a genre modification of memoirs as a literary portrait, which is “an active, widespread and productive form,” according to O. Markova.

A literary portrait is “an independent genre that gives an artistic holistic description of a real person in his individual, unique, living appearance.”

For example, L. Ginzburg (1975), O. Kashpur (1995), A. Yarkova (2002) write about the emergence of the literary portrait genre and the history of its development.

The heyday of the genre began in turn of XIX-XX centuries, this trend continued in the literature of the 20th century - both Soviet and Russian foreign. In the 20-30s of the 20th century, the literary portrait as a modification of memoirs “became a noticeable phenomenon of the literary process.”

The study of literary portraiture in Russian science began on specific historical and literary material, primarily on the material of the work of M. Gorky. The main problems of studying portraiture as a genre were outlined in an article by E. Tager (1960) and developed by V. Barakhov (1960), V. Grechnev (1964). Generalizing works that touch on the specifics of the genre belong to B. Galanov (1974), V. Barakhov (1985), O. Markova (1990), O. Kashpur (1995), A. Yarkova (2002). We can say that the literary portrait has been studied quite thoroughly, its genre features have been characterized, and its structural elements have been described.

But the literary portrait as a modification of memoirs has not yet been sufficiently studied. Although many researchers recognize that a literary portrait is “an independent genre of memoir literature”, “one of the genres of memoir literature”, although in general the typological properties of a “memoir portrait” are indicated, in practice the genre nomination of works that are essentially memoir literary portraits , causes difficulties, which we showed in the introduction and will be confirmed using the example of specific works.

(Let’s make a reservation that instead of the term “genre modifications of memoirs” we will use “genre” as more economical and as equivalent within the framework of this narrative).

It is necessary to clearly define the canon of literary portraiture as a modification of memoirs in order to further reveal the individual author’s originality of the works.

O. Markova in her dissertation research “Modern literary portrait: Typology and poetics of the genre” defines “ general principles portraiture in a memoir portrait.” This is “an attitude towards authenticity, retrospectiveness in understanding the individual and the era, openness of the author’s assessments, reliance on the author’s personal impressions, ... the person being portrayed is given against the backdrop of the era, ... in conjunction with the “other” characters of the book.”

O. Kashpur in his work “The genre of literary portrait in the works of B. Zaitsev” highlights “ specific features literary portrait as special genre memoirs,” but the indicated properties are, in our opinion, characteristic of the literary portrait as a whole and do not emphasize the “memory” nature of the memoir portrait. Thus, the researcher determines the object of the image (a real-life person), the task of the author of the portrait (“to reproduce as accurately as possible the features of the real appearance of the prototype”), as well as the fact that “the portrait contains the subjective ideas of the author” and conjecture of the internal features of the hero.

The problem of external similarity in a literary portrait corresponds to the problem of memoir or historical accuracy. The principle of portraiture is born from the features of realistic typification, that is, such an artistic generalization that is inseparable from the individualized image of a person

In many memoirs you can find many portraits and sketches. But they do not have their own separate genre status, but are included as an element of the text in general description past, being only a detail of the picture and enlivening it with faces - the author’s contemporaries.

In this regard, O. Markova identifies two types of memoir portrait in terms of structural organization - a “bound”, “unfree” portrait as part of a larger memoir narrative and as an independent “free” genre formation. In our opinion, the typology proposed by the researcher does not take into account that the task of the author of a literary portrait is “to reproduce as accurately as possible the features of the real appearance of the prototype,” as we have already cited above.

The subject of the narrative in a literary portrait is other people, the memoirist’s contemporaries. “A literary portrait synthetically summarizes all knowledge about a particular person, including his biography, works (if we're talking about about the writer), the attitude of his contemporaries towards him, as well as the attitude of the author,” writes A. Yarkova.

Both in the literary portrait, and - more broadly - in all memoir literature, the character of the person being portrayed is “a fact of the same artistic value like in the novel, because it is also a kind creative construction" The difference between the author’s strategy in a literary portrait and novelism is that the author recreates the character of the hero outside of fiction. He reproduces his impressions, his vision of actions, mental characteristics, reflects the type of behavior of the individual, specific life situations, without putting any of his creatively fictitious details into the image.

Simultaneously with the description of the hero’s special character traits, the author seeks to highlight a set of typical qualities that will raise the personality to a clearly outlined type, in which the important properties of time are concentrated. Thus, literary portraits at their best are the representation and knowledge of an era “in person.”

“Hero” is as close to the real thing as possible historical figure, but the author also reflects on the person being depicted, not just observes, but peers, closely examines the object he is analyzing. As A. Yarkova notes, “the author is an active principle, he sets the task not just to objectively portray a person, but to study him, to understand the essence of personality.” Understanding the characteristics of the hero’s character, thoughtful penetration into his worldview, the author’s active interpretation of the hero and all the material construct the genre of literary portrait.

The component of analysis inherent in the genre of literary portrait represents such a genre-forming factor as “understanding of reality”, according to M. Bakhtin, or “formula of the world”, according to N. Leiderman.

In memoirs in general, and in literary portraits in particular, there is a subjective element - even when the memories are dedicated to other people. In any case, the author tells the story through the prism of his own individual perception. Consequently, “the author’s subjectivity appears as an integral feature of any memoir,” since the memoirist “seeks to indicate the radius of his horizons, a chronicle of meetings, personal retrospective moods, and in one way or another justify the selection of memorable episodes.”

The inevitable author's subjectivity introduces a shade of incompleteness of character into a literary portrait: it is difficult for a memoirist to create a complete integrity of the character of his contemporary. And although the author knows from afar, from his time, “the immediate and long-term consequences,” as A. Tartakovsky notes, he does not set himself the task of exhaustively drawing a character, as a novelist would do, who knows everything about the hero and who creates him based on your imagination.

Conceptual, thoughtful penetration into the person being portrayed, comprehension of the image in its integrity, a deep vision of the character of the hero by the author, the measure of generalization is thus the dominant factor, an indicator of the genre of literary portrait, which differs from other modifications of memoirs, which are characterized by the sketchiness of portrait sketches and their fluency interpretations.

In order to more accurately define the canon of a literary portrait, it is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of authorship and subjectivity. The author’s principle includes everything that generally represents the author’s consciousness: this is a worldview, a system of views - political, philosophical, moral and others. Subjectivity is included in the field of the author's principle as one of its components - as a direct personal assessment of certain events, as a special intonation that accompanies the vision of life.

A literary portrait is initially characterized by a free composition and the absence of a rigid plot, which make it possible to easily move from one detail to another. Hence the mosaic and fragmentation, thanks to which the image of a person appears in the most diverse aspects and labyrinths of connection with the world. Building a plot, finding cause-and-effect connections and transitions would noticeably bind the memoirist and prevent ease of presentation. However, elements of plot are quite possible in the presentation of individual episodes of the meeting, and heterogeneous details, scenes characterizing one character, only at first glance represent a mosaic. In fact, the constituent descriptive and dynamic pictorial elements form an integral portrait space with its own internal logic, subordinate overall plan portraitist.

In a literary portrait, the author comprehends the whole through the separate, particular, individual-personal, that is, he follows an inductive path of knowledge - from facts to some general statement. This tradition comes from Plutarch, who noted: “Often some insignificant act, word or joke reveals a person’s character better than battles, ... the leadership of huge armies and sieges of cities.”

The ancient tradition turned out to be so viable that in the 18th century J.-J. Rousseau admires the style of portraiture created by Plutarch: “Plutarch excels precisely in these details... He paints great men in small things with inimitable grace; and he chooses these petty features so successfully that often one word, a smile, a gesture is enough for him to characterize his hero.”

This tradition is also characteristic of the 20th century. “There are no little things in the life of a real person,” argued K. Paustovsky, a master of finding the beauty of the unknown in “little things,” “small drops of water in which the sun is reflected.” Successfully found everyday little things add persuasiveness and authenticity to a literary portrait, physical perceptibility, since without them the contours of the face would not receive a living filling and would remain silhouettes. Therefore, the details acquire the function of a significant artistic detail. It is no coincidence that A. Herzen valued those “little things, without which faces cease to be alive and remain in memory as large sketches and profiles.”

Kirillova Ekaterina Leonidovna

Photography experienced its rapid development in mid-19th century. Created as an alternative to painting, photography eventually developed into an independent form of fine art, which is when the history of photographic portraiture began. The first photographic experiments immediately caused big interest. Particularly attractive was the illusion of ease of image acquisition. The quality of the photographer’s work was assessed by the degree to which external similarity was achieved, and errors in the photograph were corrected manually by retouchers. For example, eyes were drawn, which in photographic portraits of that time often appeared closed. At the request of the clients, the photographs were painted with watercolors.

Portraits with character

Bulky cameras were used to create the portrait. The photographic materials used in that era required long exposures and did not allow capturing fleeting movements. But, on the other hand, due to the fact that the person remained in front of the camera lens long time The portraits captured not only the external features of a person, but also revealed the traits of his character. This approach to photography can be seen in the works of the famous Russian photographer Sergei Levitsky. His famous photographic portraits are of famous Russian writers and public figures figures of the XIX centuries, such as N. A. Nekrasov, I. A. Goncharov, F. I. Tyutchev, I. A. Herzen and many others. In addition, in 1877 he received the title of Photographer of Their Imperial Majesty and created portraits of four generations of the Romanov dynasty.

Photo by Moses Nappelbaum

Typically, portrait photographers late XIX centuries created their works in the same style: repeating accessories were used, works were performed on a white or gray background, and group “three-tiered” compositions were built. Photographer Moses

Experimenting with poses

Nappelbaum challenges established traditions in his works. He rejects static poses that create a feeling of artificiality, stops using monochromatic gray backgrounds and, instead of traditional composition, offers lively scenes of people communicating. Nappelbaum argued that movement must be felt in a portrait, otherwise there will be no life in it. Modern portrait photographers are also guided by this principle.

For example, in the old photographic portraits of the American photographer Rodney Smith, everything is important - pose, gesture, direction of view. All this creates in his portraits an energy unique to him. To date, Smith's work has received 75 awards and has been exhibited in prestigious galleries around the world. With the invention of portable cameras, it became possible to abandon studio filming and the need to pose in front of the camera. This provoked the development of a new genre - reportage portraiture. The famous photographer Andranik Kochar refuses to search in his photographs expressive poses, but records individual moments in a person’s behavior during communication.

Visual images created with the help of light saturate the picture with warmth and life or, as in the works of Robert Mapplethorpe, on the contrary, make it almost lifeless. In his works, Mapplethorpe built light and composition in such a way as to emphasize the coldness, alienation, and loneliness of the person depicted, who seemed to be in an airless space.

Speaking about his work, portrait photographer Arnold Newman noted that in order to make nice portrait, you need to think not only about the personal qualities of the poser, but also about the house in which he lives and works, you need to know how he behaves in Everyday life, and understand what makes this person a person.

The meaning of portrait photography

Photography is not only important from an artistic point of view, it is a memorable historical document and is included in the arsenal of scientific tools and evidence. For example, photographs of ethnologists, geographers, reporters, and travelers often have high artistic value, but over time they turned into important historical documents. The same can be said about the portrait genre. The typology of portraits is very diverse. These include studio and reportage portraits, psychological and children's portraits; they can be either color or black and white. Over time, photographic portraits become scientific, historical and documentary evidence of the era.

TYPOLOGY OF PORTRAIT IN ARTISTIC DISCOURSE

O.A. Maletina

Typologies of portraits are numerous and varied, but the most multifaceted classifications are artistic portrait. For example, they are classified according to such criteria as the method of creation, shape, structure, etc. The classification of portraits can be based on compositional and stylistic techniques for creating a portrait: abstract portrait, pictorial portrait, plastic and architectural portrait, passport portrait, portrait with a predominant a feature, or a leitmotif portrait, a comic portrait, as well as a portrait of a changing expression, where a change in expression means a connection between the physical and the mental, that is, changes in complexion, in the shape and shine of the eyes entail changes in mood, in facial expression 1.

G.S. Syritsa in her study offers a detailed situational classification portrait descriptions: portrait-perception, portrait-self-perception, portrait-memory, portrait-self-remembering, portrait-recognition. A portrait can be a generalized description of individual portrait features or reflect the “current” state, when permanent features are highlighted by one side or another in a certain situation 2.

Based on the amount of information transmitted A.N. Bespalov identifies the following 3 types of portraits:

1) portrait-shade;

2) assessment portrait;

3) situational portrait (minimum amount of information);

4) descriptive portrait (the amount of information exceeds the minimum amount of previous types and tends to grow); This type of portrait is divided into fragmentary and complete portraits.

A portrait line includes brief portrait characteristics of a character, consisting of one or two of his characteristics. This kind

portrait is used to describe minor and episodic characters. The evaluative portrait contains the author's assessments, strongly colored by modality. The core of portrait structures of this type are such qualifying features as “best”, “worst”, “kind”, “beautiful”; their periphery is formed by fragments of other portrait types. A situational portrait includes those features that become characteristic of a character in different situations. A detailed descriptive portrait is characterized by displaying more individual signs of the situation language means. Fragmentary portraits are portrait sketches that are short in length and contain two or three features of a character. A fragmentary portrait is a truncated version of a detailed one.

ON THE. Rodionova identifies the following types of artistic portrait 4:

1) portrait-introduction (or portrait-acquaintance);

2) portrait-assessment (or portrait-perception);

3) portrait-situation.

The purpose of the portrait-representation is to introduce the reader to the character [a detailed and comprehensive portrait is given at the beginning of the text (in a story), chapter (in a novel and story)]. If for a portrait-representation the perception of the character does not matter, then in a portrait-assessment, on the contrary, the sensations of the observer, whose role is played by the narrator or another character, are semantically significant (the lexical sign of such a portrait is the presence of predicates with the meaning of visual, auditory, that is, in general sensory perception). The purpose of a situation portrait is related to the reflection of the appearance of the hero, which is mentioned in some episode, that is, such a portrait is determined by a specific situation.

It should be noted that A.N. Bespalov and N.A. Rodionov defines a portrait-assessment or an evaluative portrait differently, but as for the portrait-situation, their opinions coincide. ON THE. Rodionova examines these types of portraits from the point of view of their syntactic implementation in a literary text. We consider it inappropriate to distinguish a portrait-situation, since in some cases a portrait-perception and a portrait-representation can be considered as a portrait-situation.

Of particular interest to us is the structural-semantic classification of K.L. Sizovaya, built on thematic and structural foundations. K.L. Sizova believes that the portrait description itself includes such elements characterizing the character’s appearance as characteristics of the hero’s clothing, characteristics of the shape of facial features [shape of the nose: straight, upturned, shape of the eyes (eyes, ocelli), mouth, chin, cheeks], color characteristics of the hero’s appearance , characteristics of gestures and demeanor, characteristics of facial expressions (look and manner of smiling) and phonic characteristics (characteristics of the character’s voice).

K.L. Sizova offers a classification of portraits on thematic and structural grounds:

1) thematic typology (toilet-centric portrait, color-centric portrait, object-centric portrait, zoocentric portrait, florocentric portrait, aroma-centric portrait, music-centric portrait);

2) structural typology (point-linear portrait, field portrait and volumetric portrait)5.

Having analyzed the above classifications, we come to the conclusion that they do not reflect all types of existing portrait characteristics. Our material showed that in previous portrait studies, the type of portrait that contains a description of the characteristic features, skills and abilities of the character is not distinguished. For example, O.A. Nechaeva considers the description-characteristic in her study and identifies two types of its characteristics: some of them are associated with biographical data, others indicate character traits 6. Consequently, it seems to be purposeful

it is appropriate to supplement the classification of K.L. Sizova and, along with such types of portraits as toilet-centric, color-centric, object-centric, zoocentric, florocentric, highlight a character-centric portrait containing information about the character’s character, abilities and skills. Due to the fact that the character-centric portrait has not previously been described and thoroughly studied, let us consider it in more detail.

As part of a character-centric portrait of a character, the following components can be distinguished: psychological characteristics and social characteristics.

The description of psychological characteristics reveals the mental abilities, moral qualities and personal characteristics of the character. Mental abilities characterize individual personality characteristics, which are subjective conditions successful implementation a certain type of activity. Moral qualities include characteristics of moral traits that receive moral evaluation in society. Personal characteristics are individual characteristics that characterize a person.

The description of social characteristics reflects the social status, age, education and profession of the character. Social position characterizes a character in terms of what level or niche he occupies on the social ladder of society. Age is a stage of human development, characterized by specific patterns of formation of the organism and personality, and is also a biological stage of maturation of the organism, determined by genetic determinants. Education represents the process and result of mastering systematized knowledge, skills and abilities. A profession is a gender labor activity a person who possesses a complex of special knowledge and practical skills acquired as a result of training and work experience.

There is a dependence between the character’s appearance and his character, that is, the character’s character is a projection of the external image of the hero. Important role plays the psychological characteristics of the leader

OBLIGATION

The main features of the character’s appearance: the expression of the eyes, smile, gait, manner of speaking. Behind the description of the external appearance of a character there is always such a goal as revealing the inner world of the hero, his character. A portrait includes not only the transfer of the external, but also the transfer of the internal expression of the properties, essence, soul of a person, and not just the image of his appearance. A portrait involves revealing a human personality, that is, character 7.

The analyzed material allows us to distinguish two types of the analyzed type of portrait:

Character-centric portrait, manifested in the appearance of the characters;

A character-centric portrait that is not reflected in the appearance of the characters.

The first type of character-centric portrait is used when describing the main characters, and the second type is used when creating descriptions of minor characters. Let's look at the first type of character-centric portrait using examples: 1) And so, too with the stout and large Mrs. Wilson, who stood beside him while he was attempting to rise to the importance of Clyde. She just beamed a fatty beam. She was almost ponderous, and pink, with a tendency to a double chin. She smiled and smiled, largely because she was naturally genial and on her good behavior here...8; 2) Her eyes were round

and blue and intelligent - her lips and nose and ears and hands so small and pleasing 9; She was as he decided on sight, more intelligent and pleasing...10

In the first example, the heroine’s good nature is outwardly manifested in fullness, fat man- this is always a kind and good person, incapable of causing harm. In the second example, the characterization of the heroine’s mental abilities is given, and the external manifestation this trait found in the description of the eyes. The character-centric portrait of George Newton undoubtedly belongs to the second type of this type of portrait: George Newton, as every one could see and feel, was a pleasant if not very emotional or romantic person who took his various small plans in regard to himself and his future as of the utmost importance 11. The pages of the novel do not give a description of Mr. Newton's appearance, since the author probably wants the addressee to know exactly; but strives to inform the reader primarily about the most significant features the nature of this character. So, in this article we substantiated the legitimacy of identifying a character-centric portrait, examined the types of this type of portrait and its components. Thus, it turns out that in general the portrait of any character has the following structure (see figure).

Appearance Costume Character

Subject-centric

Zoocentric

Toilet-centric

Character-centric _______portrait________

Color-centric ______portrait_____

Psychological

peculiarities

Aromacentric ______portrait_____

Social

characteristics

Florocentric

Mental abilities Social status

Moral qualities Age

Personal

quality

Education

Profession

Character Portrait Structure

O.A. Maletina. Typology of portrait in artistic discourse

NOTES

1 Beletsky A.I. Selected works on literary theory. M., 1964.

2 Syritsa G.S. The language of portraiture in the novels of L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace” and “Resurrection”: Dis. ...cand. Philol. Sci. M., 1986. P. 34.

3 Bespalov A.N. The structure of portrait descriptions in the literary text of the Middle English period: Dis. ...cand. Philol. Sci. M., 2001. P. 106-120.

4 Rodionova N.A. Types of portrait characteristics in fiction by I.A. Bunina: Linguistic and stylistic aspect: Dis. ...cand. Philol. Sci. Samara, 1999. pp. 45-47.

5 Sizova K.L. Typology of a hero's portrait: based on material literary prose I.S. Turgenev: Dis. ...cand. Philol. Sci. Voronezh, 1995. pp. 31-152.

6 Nechaeva O.A. Functional and semantic types of speech (description, narration, reasoning). Ulan-Ude, 1974. P. 75.

7 Andronnikova M.I. From prototype to image (to the problem of portrait in literature and cinema). M., 1974. P. 4.

8 Dreiser Th. An American Tragedy. Moscow, 1949. Vol. 1.P 214.

9 Ibid. P. 256.

10 Ibid. P. 255.

Portraiture and drawing tell the story of a person, his beauty, character and aspirations. A portrait artist deals with a person’s character, his complex individuality. To understand a person, to understand his essence by appearance, you need a lot of life and professional experience. The artist is required to have a deep knowledge of the person depicted. In addition individual traits It is also important for the portrayed person to convey the traits that his professional environment imposes on him.

Portrait(French portrait - image) - a genre of fine art depicting one person or a group of people. In addition to external, individual resemblance, artists strive in a portrait to convey the character of a person, his spiritual world.

There are many types of portrait. The portrait genre includes: half-length portrait, bust (in sculpture), full-length portrait, group portrait, interior portrait, portrait against a landscape background. Based on the nature of the image, two main groups are distinguished: ceremonial and chamber portraits. As a rule, a ceremonial portrait involves an image of a person in full height(on horseback, standing or sitting). IN intimate portrait waist, chest, shoulder images are used. In a ceremonial portrait, the figure is usually shown against an architectural or landscape background, and in a chamber portrait, more often against a neutral background.

Based on the number of images on one canvas, in addition to the usual, individual ones, double and group portraits are distinguished. Portraits painted on different canvases are called paired if they are consistent in composition, format and color. Most often these are portraits of spouses. Portraits often form entire ensembles - portrait galleries.

A portrait in which a person is presented in the form of some allegorical, mythological, historical, theatrical or literary character is called a costumed one. The titles of such portraits usually include the words “in the form” or “in the image” (for example, Catherine II in the form of Minerva).

Portraits are also distinguished by size, for example miniature. You can also highlight a self-portrait - the artist’s depiction of himself. A portrait conveys not only the individual traits of the person being portrayed or, as artists say, the model, but also reflects the era in which the person depicted lived.

The art of portraiture dates back several thousand years. Already in Ancient Egypt, sculptors created a fairly accurate likeness of a person’s external appearance. The statue was given a portrait likeness so that after the death of a person, his soul could move into it and easily find its owner. The picturesque Fayyum portraits, made using the encaustic technique (wax painting) in the 1st-4th centuries, also served the same purposes. Idealized portraits of poets, philosophers, public figures were common in the sculpture of Ancient Greece. Truthfulness and accuracy psychological characteristics Ancient Roman sculptural portrait busts were distinguished. They reflected the character and personality of a particular person.

The depiction of a person’s face in sculpture or painting has always attracted artists. The portrait genre especially flourished during the Renaissance, when the humanistic, effective human personality was recognized as the main value (Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto). Renaissance masters deepen the content of portrait images, endowing them with intelligence, spiritual harmony, and sometimes internal drama.

In the 17th century V European painting a chamber, intimate portrait comes to the fore, as opposed to a ceremonial, official, exalting portrait. Outstanding masters of this era - Rembrandt, Van Rijn, F. Hals, Van Dyck, D. Velazquez - created a gallery of wonderful images of simple, nothing famous people, discovered in them the greatest riches of kindness and humanity.

In Russia, the portrait genre began to actively develop from the beginning of the 18th century. F. Rokotov, D. Levitsky, V. Borovikovsky created a series of magnificent portraits of noble people. The female images painted by these artists were especially charming and charming, imbued with lyricism and spirituality. In the first half of the 19th century. the main character of portrait art becomes a dreamy and at the same time romantic personality prone to heroic impulse (in the paintings of O. Kiprensky, K. Bryullov).

The emergence of realism in the art of the Wanderers was reflected in the art of portraiture. Artists V. Perov, I. Kramskoy, I. Repin created an entire portrait gallery of outstanding contemporaries. Individual and typical features of those being portrayed, artists convey their spiritual characteristics with the help of characteristic facial expressions, poses, and gestures. The person was depicted in all his psychological complexity, and his role in society was also assessed. In the 20th century the portrait combines the most contradictory trends - bright realistic individual characteristics and abstract expressive deformations of models (P. Picasso, A. Modigliani, A. Bourdelle in France, V. Serov, M. Vrubel, S. Konenkov, M. Nesterov, P. Korin in Russia).

Portraits convey to us not only images of people from different eras, reflect part of history, but also speak about how the artist saw the world, how he related to the person being portrayed.

Portrait(French portrait, from Old French portraire; Italian ritratto; there is, including in the Russian tradition, a term for designating P. - parsun - from Latin persona - “person; person”, which is usually used for those types and types of portraits and in those eras of development of fine art, when painting has not yet fully realized all its formal and figurative features) - an individualized image (fine art) or description (literature) of a group of people (group painting) or an individual person ( individual P.).

P. is one of the leading genres of Renaissance fine art and literature, the goal of which is a detailed and thorough or idealized and generalized interpretation of the visual features of the model. Portraits are found in painting, graphics, engraving, miniatures, sculpture, as well as in the literature of the British era. The portrait genre is always based on a memorial principle, which can have different interpretations and purposes. But in all cases, the main task of the Renaissance P. is to perpetuate the appearance of a particular person and, in part, to glorify and glorify him.

The Problem of Resemblance in Renaissance Portraits

One of the main problems of P. art, including Renaissance art, is the problem of the similarity of the image and the hero being portrayed (character, model, original). Therefore, the most important criterion for portraiture is the identity of the formal artistic image created by the artist with the original itself. The similarity in P.'s art seems to be not only a consequence of the correct rendering of the model's external appearance, but also the result of an adequate disclosure of his spiritual essence, character, and individual personality traits. The artist equally reveals the individuality of the model and points out her role and place in the social structure of society and the historical era. And here both typical and ideal characteristics and its specific, individual characteristics are equally important. No less important for the painting of the V. era will be the problem of the customer, where the latter, along with the artist, has a certain, and often very significant, influence on the formation and characteristics of the artistic image.

During the Renaissance, P., first of all, can depict a real-life contemporary, and he is created with the help of natural impressions. P. can also show a certain, usually historical character (historical P.) who ever existed in reality, in compliance with his specific portrait features, recreated on the basis of the master’s personal memories or the opinions and assessments of his contemporaries. And also on the basis of auxiliary (literary, memorial, visual, documentary, etc.) material. The portrait of a historical character can be created only thanks to the artist’s imagination, and then fictitious physiognomic features are realized in him (imaginary character). A striking example historical or imaginary painting will, as a rule, be monumental and decorative ensembles dedicated to the “uomini famosi” or “uomini illustri” cycles.

The painting of the V. era is distinguished not only by a consistent desire for a reliable (“realistic” in the Renaissance sense of the term) depiction of the external appearance of the model, but also by the desire to show it inner world, the meaning and dignity of the human person. P. is a recreated artistic means image human individuality, rather than a verbatim copy of a human face (figure), which are also found in the Renaissance ("portrait mask"). Renaissance painting is one of the means of artistic characterization of the individual personality of the era, repetition in plastic forms, lines and colors of a living face, display through composition, color scheme, details and attributes, through the nature of the clothing of the main character and interpretation of the space surrounding him (landscape, architectural view , interior), the place of the depicted personality in the World and Society, the attitude of the artist and the surrounding social environment towards her.

Elements of portrait composition

Various details and attributes play a huge role in creating a portrait image. They are the ones who clarify, develop and enrich the portrait characteristics of the model, making it more prominent and visual. They help to understand the often quite complex and multifaceted individuality of a portrait image, to take into account the requirements of the time and the will of the customer, and to characterize the personality of the model as fully as possible. These details and attributes include those so valued by the era of V. surrounding a person the world of things and particular features of the compositional construction of a portrait image, enhancing its unique individuality. Among them, relying on abundant visual material Renaissance P., we note the following iconic details and attributes: a window, a mirror, a portrait or portrait miniature depicted on the wall or in the hands of a character, architectural details (column), sculptures or monuments of classical antiquity introduced in art space P., border in the foreground, draperies, knightly vestments, items of military equipment, items of religious worship, items indicating the social status of the model, coats of arms, heraldic signs, initials, inscriptions, letters, notes, books, notes, animals, flowers and plants, jewelry, minerals, scattered coins, watches, vanitas attributes, etc.

Principles of interpretation of a portrait image

In Renaissance painting, the objective depiction of a character is invariably accompanied by the master’s own and personal attitude towards the model, reflecting the worldview and aesthetic views of the artist himself and his era, which inevitably gives the portrait image not only recognizable signs of the time, but also a subjective author’s coloring. Renaissance painting is necessarily an ideological-figurative interpretation of a personality through the depiction of the hero’s external appearance and the formal structure of the work of art itself, which seemed extremely important for the fundamentally anthropomorphic and individualistic ideological world and culture of the Renaissance era. Renaissance portrait painters, in their artistic vision of the depicted character, sought to the most open and “realistic” interpretation of the model, carefully conveying all the details and nuances of its appearance and surroundings. At the same time, especially at certain stages of the development of Renaissance art (High Renaissance), Renaissance painting is distinguished by an idealized approach to the depiction of the main character. But in all cases, the artist was certainly faced with the task of reflecting the essence of the personality of the person being portrayed, showing his individual character and understanding his essence.

Portrait typology

In the era of V., a diverse typology of P. is emerging, which depends on its purpose and utilitarian function, the features of the formal-figurative solution and the nature (material) of execution. Therefore, in the Renaissance P. the following types and types can be distinguished. First of all, this is a division into monumental sculpture: sculptural monuments, including equestrian monuments with their emphasized classicism of the figurative structure ( Donatello, Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci, Giambologna), P. in tombstones, which has its own typological feature ( Arnolfo di Cambio, Tino da Camaino, Jacopo della Quercia, Bernardo Rossellino, Antonio Rossellino, Antonio Pollaiolo, Pietro Lombardo, Guglielmo della Porta, Giovanni Montorsoli, Pierre Bontemps, Germaine Pilon, Leone Leoni, Pompeo Leoni), P. in monumental painting- a fresco where you can highlight the so-called “hidden portraits” ( Francesco del Cossa, Filippino Lippi, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Raphael), mosaic. And the second large group of Renaissance painting is easel painting: paintings, as well as reliefs and busts, where the classicized component of Renaissance painting is most clearly visible ( Mino da Fiesole, Antonio Rossellino, Francesco Laurana, Domenico Gaggini, Verrocchio, Benvenuto Cellini), graphic sheets that often convey the spontaneous and impulsive appearance of the model ( Albrecht Durer, Hans Holbein the Younger, French pencil portrait of the 16th century), engravings ( Albrecht Durer), portrait miniatures with their exquisite delicacy portrait characteristics(Nicholas Hiliard). It is also worth highlighting this type of sculptural P., such as P. on medals ( Pisanello, Guarino da Verona, Sperandio, Vittore Gambello) and coins ( medal art), complete, despite the size of the monuments, of genuine greatness and heroism in the interpretation of the depicted character, P. on gems (glyptic).

In turn, monumental and easel painting paintings can be donor paintings ( Masaccio, Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling), front ( Piero della Francesca, Bronzino, Giorgio Vasari, Titian, Alonso Sanchez Coelho), mounted ( Titian), heroic ( Andrea del Castagno), chamber, intimate, characteristic, caricature (P. jesters and dwarfs); historical ( Andrea del Castagno), imaginary, mythological ( Bronzino), theatrical, family ( Titian, Lorenzo Lotto, Hans Holbein the Younger, Franz Pourbus the Elder), children's (Girolamo Bedoli, Bronzino, Titian, Hans Holbein the Younger, Jan Gossaert); P. in full height ( Titian, Parmigianino, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Holbein the Younger), generation ( Giulio Romano, Pontormo, Bronzino, Titian, Lorenzo Lotto, Giovanni Battista Moroni, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Holbein the Younger, Franz Floris), waist ( Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto), chest ( Antonello da Messina, Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Jan van Eyck, The Master of Flémalle, Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, Hans Holbein the Younger, Jean Fouquet, Francois Clouet); profile ( Pisanello, Piero della Francesca, Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Piero Pollaiolo, Leonardo da Vinci), three-quarter ( Antonello da Messina, Botticelli, Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Jan van Eyck, The Master of Flémalle, Rogier van der Weyden, Albrecht Durer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Jean Fouquet), en face (full face) ( Botticelli, Bronzino, Hans Holbein the Younger), from different points of view ( Lorenzo Lotto), sitting ( Rafael, Bronzino), standing ( Titian, Hans Holbein the Younger) and so on. Based on the number of characters depicted in one portrait and the number of portrait images included in one portrait ensemble, the portrait is divided into individual ( Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Bronzino, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus Christus, Hans Memling, Albrecht Durer, Lucas Cranach the Elder), paired ( Piero della Francesca, Hans Memling), double ( Jan van Eyck, Frankfurt Master), and group, not only in easel, but also in monumental painting ( Francesco del Cossa, Andrea Mantegna, Melozzo da Forli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Raphael, Giorgio Vasari, Francesco Salviati, Titian, Dirk Jacobs). A specific type of painting, very characteristic of the Middle Ages, characterized by the emergence of the artist’s self-awareness, is the self-portrait, which can exist independently ( Lorenzo Ghiberti, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Parmigianino, Francesco Salviati, Albrecht Durer), and enter the group P. ( Sandro Botticelli, Raphael).

Stages of portrait development

The boundaries of the Renaissance portrait genre are not clearly fixed and are very flexible, and often portraiture itself can be combined in one work with elements of other genres - religious, historical, mythological, landscape, still life, and everyday life.

The individual characteristics of Renaissance painting were partly outlined already in the art of the Proto-Renaissance ( Giotto, Simone Martini). But firmly in all the variety of types, forms, images, local art schools And national specifics they established themselves in the 15th century. Now happening final formation independent P., which undergoes a characteristic evolution from profile to three-quarter, which significantly enriches the possibilities of creating a more developed portrait characteristic. The latter is distinguished by the glorification of the image, a bright and strong individuality in the interpretation of the model, passion of nature and strength of character - a paired profile of P. Federico II da Montefeltro and his wife Battista Sforza, work Piero della Francesca(c. 1465; Uffizi, Florence); three-quarter bust P. Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan work Andrea Mantegni(1459 - 1460; Prussian State Museums cultural heritage, Berlin); so-called P. "Condottiere" work Antonello da Messina(1475; Louvre, Paris). Additional examples can be found in monumental and easel paintings ( Masaccio, Pisanello, Andrea del Castagno, Domenico Veneziano, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Piero della Francesca, Pinturicchio, Andrea Mantegna, Antonello da Messina, Gentile and Giovanni Bellini), in statuary plastic ( Donatello and Verrocchio), in sculptural portraits ( Antonio Rossellino, Desiderio da Settignano, Mino da Fiesole, Francesco Laurana, Benedetto da Maiano), V medal art(Pisanello).

Renaissance anthropocentrism, a synthetic approach to the interpretation of the model, the ideal characteristics of the model, the creation of a world of images full of peace, harmony and clarity appear especially clearly in the portraiture of the masters of the High Renaissance. Here, first of all, portrait art should be mentioned Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, partly Andrea del Sarto, Giorgione, early Titian. These masters further deepen the content of portrait images, making them extremely complex, deep, and multifaceted. Their P. characters have a balanced and balanced view of the World, they are distinguished by faith in the power of intelligence, a sense of personal freedom and self-esteem, they are in spiritual harmony with themselves and the world around them - P. Baldassare Castiglione, work Raphael(1514 - 1515; Louvre, Paris). At this time, the means of artistic expression became more complex and updated, which also affected portrait art, which helped enrich the figurative possibilities of the Renaissance painting - this is the famous sfumato Leonardo da Vinci and coloristic searches, still very harmonious and major, in Titian.

A special stage in the development of the Renaissance portrait is associated with the era of the Late Renaissance and Mannerism ( late Titian, Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto, Lorenzo Lotto, Savoldo, Alessandro Moretto, Moroni, Parmigianino, Andrea del Sarto, Sebastiano del Piombo, Pontormo, Bronzino, El Greco). The political situation, ideas about the World and Society, the view of the role and place of man in the World are changing. The artist’s self-awareness also becomes different, which affects the abundance of autobiographical prose that is surprisingly fascinating in its content, passionate, but also extremely sad in its essence ( Pontormo, Benvenuto Cellini) and on interest in pictorial self-portraiture ( Michelangelo, Titian, Tintoretto, Parmigianino, Francesco Salviati). Hamlet’s expression “the connection of times has fallen apart” fully reflects the tragic, full of drama and passion perception of the world and the human personality characteristic of this time and immeasurably far from the clarity and harmony, with all the conventionality of these definitions, of the previous Renaissance attitude towards the World, Man and transparent the power of portrait images.