portraits of famous people do not necessarily reflect the actual appearance of models. This conclusion has recently joined the New York art critic and former film director Simon Abrahamse (Simon Abrahams), who spent an interesting study. Using computer analysis, he compared the hundreds of portraits, ranging from the Renaissance to our days, and concluded that the images of great people - the French and British monarchs as well as standing close to people, and self-portraits of artists, writing these pictures, often have a very strong resemblance.

The results of the study Abrahamse so startled that he decided to publish his controversial theory on the site ArtScholar.org . On this portal it is starting from July this year, each month publishes excerpts studies, each of which focuses on a particular topic. The first of them he turned to painting of the Renaissance painters such as Jan van Eyk (Jan van Eyck), Kristus Petrus (Petrus Christus) and Leonardo da Vinci (Leonardo da Vinci). Abrahamse says that at the scenes of each master is often possible to see very similar, and even almost the same person. For example, the image of Anna's painting «The Virgin and Child and St. Anna» great Leonardo is virtually identical with the image of John the Baptist in the same picture of the da Vinci. A Virgin Mary, the Archangel Gabriel and Mrs. Arnolfini in the works of Jan van Eyck may be called almost twins.

There is no clear explanation for this phenomenon Abrahamse does not, however, develops this idea in the next part, which is devoted to portraits of Napoleon and other French monarchs. A comparison between the canvases Ingres, Gros and David, which depicts Emperor Bonaparte, it is hard to believe that it is the same man. However, if each of the portraits placed next to self-fulfill his artist, as did Abrahamse, these differences are becoming clearer. The researcher explains the phenomenon this way: these works - not the historical documents, executed in the spirit of poetry, but rather on the contrary, poetic paintings, acting as historical.

Abrahamse writes that the concept of alter ego, which is often used in literature, why it is rarely applied to art, and in particular - to portrait painting. He suggests that this is not quite correct, since a surprising similarity between the images of monarchs and artists due to the fact that the author in this case uses another person - alter ego - for your own «I». Thus, the artists often register themselves in the image of their patrons, having the greatness and power. This complete similarity is not always necessary - sometimes for self-identification is just one characteristic traits. For example, Jacques-Louis David (Jacques-Louis David), written by Napoleon to be the same as host, two ringlety on the forehead. These same two davidovskih curl, you can see the knock out of the turban to the person Marata in the famous picture of the artist «The Death of Marat» (1793).

Interestingly, the process of introducing its own features in the shape of the model works in the opposite direction. The court painter of Louis XIV Iasent Rigaud (Hyacinthe Rigaud) initially moved some of the characteristics of his early self-portrait (in turbans) in front a portrait of his patron. And then, after the death of Louis, when asked to write their Rigaud selfportrait for the Uffizi Gallery, and he osmelel «example» a royal hairstyle that's done a surprising similarity of images monarch and his court painter.

Most vividly Abrahamse theory appears in the formulation of his gallery of portraits of British monarchs and their self-established artists. Often, the similarity of people depicted so strikingly that the additional comments simply unnecessary. Abrahamse again writes that these images of kings and queens are not that different, as a reflection of the artist alter ego. Abrahamse even introduces the phenomenon to the special term «merger persons», in which one or more features of the author connected with the characteristics of the model, resulting in a final image becomes, and it seems to the author, and his model. Artists often use hair, lighting and pose both to mask the similarities, and for this to emphasize the similarities.

The earliest examples of «confluence of people», can be found in works of British artists of the XVII century Hilliarda Nicholas (Nicholas Hilliard) and Isaac Oliver (Isaak Oliver). They both created the portraits of Queen Elizabeth I. Writes Abrahamse, one of the scientists of that time said that the miniature depicting the English Queen, performed by Oliver, «... certainly written from life» and «perhaps, has the highest similarity» with its real prototype. But today, thanks to computer analysis Abrahamse, we can visually compare the images of Elizabeth and wrote her an artist and make sure that this portrait also bears some characteristics of its author.

The similarity in images portrait and a portrait of British art in the future. Court painter Neller Godfrey (Gottfried Kneller, Godfrey Kneller) made his features almost all of the portraits, which worked. One of his contemporaries told that the couple who visited the studio Nellera had to ask, what of the paintings depicted their son because they were not able to get it. Something similar happens with the works of the portraitist Peter Leli (Peter Lely). We can say that the images they are so reminiscent of the author that their proximity to the real model even becomes doubtful. Abrahamse says that «at least two contemporaries of Peter Leli expressed frustration that the person on his portraits are too similar to each other. And one of them even suggested that the artist too carried away by the study of their own traits ». Phenomenon «mergers persons» is also capable of such famous artists as Thomas Gainsborough (Thomas Gainsborough) and Joshua Reynolds (Joshua Reynolds); last wrote King George III and George IV remarkably similar to itself in its self.

It is surprising that the similarity between the artist and the model shown in most cases neglected. While Abrahamse told in an interview with The Observer, «always believed that there are artists who can paint the world" as it is, and there are artists' poetic ', which portrayed the world as it represents a ... Everything that we see around us, we will certainly perceive through the prism of his consciousness. We can only interpret what we see with the help of what we know. Great artists understand this instinctively, and deliberately wrote their own people when they needed a real picture of the world. This is very similar to the way we look at their children - and see them reflected themselves ».

Of course, Abrahamse theory can be described as controversial. However, many examples that he cited on his website as evidence, really amazing. One of these wonderful comparisons - a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, painted in 2001, and to fulfill his self-portrait of the artist, Lusiena Freud (Lucian Freud). A comparison can be clearly seen not only the likeness of individuals, but also noticeable that Freud's hairstyle and shape, and color repeats the diamond cross on the crown of Elizabeth. These paintings particularly striking, because the two are now live person. In addition, both works are executed by one of the most famous contemporary artists. All this is very clearly demonstrates that the desire of artists to display their «I» in the guise of portrait models exist to this day.

material produced Catherine Onuchin

Sources: artscholar.org , guardian.co.uk , artinvestment . ru