Social functions and meaning of portraiture

The author of the article notes, that in human social interactions portraits have always been and still are used as “signs” depicting person’s ideas, “moral code”, social status and etc. One of the main means of expression in portraiture is the person’s body language. In portraiture it is possible to recognise certain conventional poses that bear definite meanings. Apart from the body expression, costumes also play an important role in depicting the social background of the portrayed person. For example, the social status, profession, interests, hobbies and sometimes even moral features of an individual can be revealed by various costume details and attributes. Besides, the background picture or colour also play an important role in creating an overall atmosphere of the portrait. The meanings of symbols and signs used in portraits can vary depending on the context. However, despite the fact that today we interpret old portraits differently in comparison to how they were interpreted at the time of their creation we can still acknowledge the fact that a single portrait can tell more about history than a badly written book. Portraits, perpetuating the real people who once lived or are still alive, reflect social relations, fashion, ethical values and aesthetic attitudes of the people of certain epochs. The character and the individualism of the portrayed person coalesces with the gaze of the artist, trimming between the epoch’s aesthetic conventions and the personal view, traditions of the genre, individual demands of the client and the author’s perception