HIST 2076 - Portraiture and Power

This advanced level course complements and expands conventional studies of the representation of power in historical and political textual sources by focusing on the enduring genre of portraiture in past and present visual culture. It explores the evolution of the making and meaning of the human likeness in art and examines the complex relationship between artist, sitter and viewer. While the form and function of portraits is closely examined, the idea of artistic portraiture as a valuable primary source of historical and political information is demonstrated to be of equal significance as its literary counterpart. Students are provided with a unique opportunity to develop understanding of key aesthetic, social and psychological perspectives to critically analyse the construction, dissemination and reception of political image and identity and its agency in the broadest sense across time and place.