A ceremonial portrait is a phenomenon characteristic of court culture. His main task is not only to convey similarities, but also to exalt the customer, who, most often, was a high-ranking special or even monarch.
Features of the parade portrait genre
Ceremonial portraits were widespread at court. They glorified royal persons and their confidants. As a rule, a person was depicted in full growth, standing or sitting on a horse. The background was usually a landscape or architectural structures. The artist, first of all, focused on the social role of his model. Moreover, her spiritual qualities often faded into the background. Among the distinguishing features of the ceremonial portrait is the character's theatrical pose, the image of numerous regalia, and magnificent surroundings.
Front portrait in the work of Levitsky
In Russia, the flowering of ceremonial portraiture art falls on the second half of the 18th century. The largest representative of the genre was Dmitry G. Levitsky. One of the best works of the artist, as well as one of the most unusual ceremonial portraits in all of world art, was "Portrait of Prokofy Akinfievich Demidov."
A well-known philanthropist is depicted on the background of the columns of the Orphanage, of which he was one of the trustees. At the same time, Demidov himself is dressed in a dressing gown, he relies on a watering can and is surrounded by indoor plants. Levitsky here says that his hero is just as caring for orphans from the Orphanage as he is to gentle houseplants.
This genre should also include a series of portraits of pupils of the Smolny Institute of noble maidens. Charming young people are depicted during performances on the theatrical stage, as well as during studies in science and art. This series has become a new version of the ceremonial portrait for Russia - the so-called "portrait in the role", where the subject of the image is not real, but a dramatically theatrical life.
