At the Salon of 1846, on the subject of portraiture, Baudelaire wrote that it is :

“to set forth the contours and the modeling of the model faithfully, severely and minutely; this does not however exclude idealization, which, for enlightened naturalists, will consist in choosing the sitter’s most characteristic attitude — the attitude which best expresses his habits of mind. Further, one must know how to give a reasonable exaggeration to each important detail — to lay stress on everything which is naturally salient, marked and essential, and to disregard (or to merge with the whole) everything which is insignificant or which is the effect of some accidental blemish.” Baudelaire, 1846

 

Art Portraits