Portraits
Birmingham
Museum and Art Gallery
has an array of impressive
portraits which can be
used to support numerous
areas of the
curriculum. Paintings from
the collection will be
used to
demonstrate the history of portraiture. By
looking at techniques and symbols, children
will be able to find the clues that reveal
the identity of the person within a portrait.
They will focus on composition, expression,
character and costume before completing
their own portrait.
- Portraits
Teachers' Notes
(Word 247 KB) or Portraits
Teachers' Notes (Acrobat44
KB) format
- Portraits
Pupil Worksheet (Word
265 KB) or Portraits
Pupil Worksheet (Acrobat
73 KB) format
We recommend that children
should be encouraged
to
think of each picture
as a unique representation
of an individual or
group of people, painted
by
a living artist. Both
the sitter
and the artist were
trying to convey something
about themselves and
their
view of the world when
they
chose the
form of the portrait.
In many portraits,
individuals are represented
in a way that indicates
their profession or
social status. Often
these are
revealed through important
objects, signifying
their profession (mainly
male).
Other pictures concentrate
on the individual's
appearance and costume
(mainly female).
An example of just a
few of our portraits
can
be seen
below:
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Thomas
Gainsborough, Miss
lsabella Franks (1770)
Location: Gallery
22
Isabella's parents,
belonged to one
of the leading
families of British
Jewry. The Franks
lived at Teddington
in Middlesex, then
part of London's
rural fringe. lsabella,
who inherited great
wealth, married
a future Royal
chaplain
and baronet in
1787. She died
at a great
age in 1855.
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Palma
Il Giovani (1544-1628) Portrait
of a Collector
(c 1600)
Location: Gallery 23
Collecting works
of art became important
during the Renaissance
(14th - 16th Century). In this Venetian
portrait,
the collector is
surrounded by his
treasures. In the
background to the
right are fragments
of antique sculpture,
including a cast
of the famous Roman
head of the Emperor
Vitellius. To the
left is a model
for the figure of
St. Sebastian.
We do not know what
the page held out
by the collector
is meant to tell
us. We are not sure
about the identities
of both the
artist and
the sitter
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FLEMISH
SCHOOL, Nicholas
Gaze and his son with
St. Nicholas (1518)
Location: Gallery 27
This painting is the
left half of a diptych
(a painting with two
panels), the other
part of which probably
showed the Virgin and
Child. Nicholas
Gaze was
a knight in the service
of Philip, Duke of
Burgundy. The very
small figure of the
son and the cross he
holds shows that
the child had died.
Nicholas Gaze carries
three round loaves
on a baker's peel to
show his
position as Supply Officer to
the Burgundian army. |
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