Abstract

PACHECO, Maria Emília Vaz. Contemporary self -portrait painting in portugal: a brief overview. Diacrítica [online]. 2012, vol.26, n.3, pp.93-130. ISSN 0807-8967.

Self-portrait is associated with fascinating stories and involves concepts such as mythology, legend, symbology, narcissism, affirmation, multiple claims, resemblance, realism, naturalism and self-examination. Self-portrait is a repository of great complexity and is in the origin of copious definition. Contrary to previous sacred representations, historical images and mythological characters, in Middle Ages the painter's individual identity was less represented in self-portraits. Individual valuation and appreciation of portraits raised the intellectual autonomy characteristic of Renaissance. Self-portrait gained independence then. During Romanticism, painters prefered to abandon figurative process in pictorial representation. Introspective self-portrait aroused and continued to grow until the twentieth century. Currently, the self-portrait is still looking for identity.

Keywords : self-portrait; self-examination; complexity; metaphor; sign.

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