Article: Society portraits. (Newport, Rhode Island)

Prior to the invention of photography, portraiture served many purposes, not the least of which was flattery. Velvet and damask took on an ethereal dimension, wrinkles and blemishes were magically removed, a haughty mien replaced a more mundane everyday appearance, and jewels and worldly possessions assumed a more important dimension. Above all, the rich and powerful were attracted by the idea of being immortalized by the most important artists of their day. Among those who epitomized the best in fashionable portraiture in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony van Dyck in the Low Countries; Pompeo Batoni in Italy; Thomas ...

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