Module manager: Dr Kerry Bristol
Email: k.a.c.bristol@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
At least 20 credits of level 1 ARTF modules
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Portraiture raises fundamental questions about status, identity, gender and the body. The social functions of such imagery, its patronage, patterns of allegiance, making, viewing and viewing conditions will be located within relevant historical contexts. The technical methods, visual devices and rhetorical conventions of a range of works by such artists as Hans Holbein the younger, Titian, Rubens, Van Dyck, Reynolds and Gainsborough will be analysed, as will the problematic aspects of likeness, physical appearance, individual presence and beauty. Different portrait types, such as the ruler, the group, the equestrian and the family will be studied and there will be a consideration of how allegory and narrative transform these portrait types into much larger statements about position within society. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
This module addresses the large format painted portrait that developed in sixteenth-century Europe, featured in court art of the seventeenth century and evolved into the grand manner tradition of the commercial world of eighteenth-century England. You will explore what a portrait is and isn’t, how gender could be constructed pictorially, why portraits were a key method of conveying the power of the state or individual (often one and the same, eg. Elizabeth I), and how artists eventually used the genre to elevate their own status and harness a growing culture of celebrity that embraced the royal family, wealthy aristocrats, society ‘beauties’, actors and exotic ‘others’. Through selected case study paintings, you will develop skills in visual analysis, while engaging with the module readings will enhance your burgeoning skills in textual analysis of primary and secondary literature.
On completion of this module, students should have acquired:
1. An informed and critical understanding of a significant number of key images and texts in the study of the art and history of the Early Modern Period in Europe
2. An integrated knowledge of a variety of perspectives, methodologies and approaches to the subjects and objects of portraiture
3. Skills in the preparation and presentation of relevant primary and secondary source material
4. The ability to construct and put forward relevant oral debate and written argument
Skills learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module you will have developed:
5. Critical thinking skills by preparing an informed argument grounded in relevant primary and secondary source material
6. Visual literacy skills through the identification and selection of relevant works of art.
Analysis of visual imagery
Portraiture raises fundamental questions about status, identity, gender and the body. The social functions of such imagery, its patronage, patterns of allegiance, making, viewing and viewing conditions will be located within relevant historical contexts. The technical methods, visual devices and rhetorical conventions of a range of works by such artists as Hans Holbein the younger, Titian, Rubens, Van Dyck, Reynolds and Gainsborough will be analysed, as will the problematic aspects of likeness, physical appearance, individual presence and beauty. Different portrait types, such as the ruler, the group, the equestrian and the family will be studied and there will be a consideration of how allegory and narrative transform these portrait types into much larger statements about position within society.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Lecture | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Seminar | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 179.5 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20.5 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
180 hours – preparation for oral presentation, essay research and writing, reading set texts and a selection of further readings.
Formative feedback on a plan for the first essay will take place during the 0.5 hour supervision to ensure that appropriate case study paintings have been selected and that students have an opportunity to discuss their interpretation of either a set question or a question of their own devising. Formative feedback is also provided on the unassessed small group presentations that take place throughout the semester
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Written | 40 |
| Coursework | Written | 60 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team