This module considers the particular problems and issues surrounding the study of portraiture as a genre of art, concentrating primarily on western European art since the Renaissance. These issues include: constructions of identity, the functions of portraiture, the self-portrait, group portraiture, gender and portraiture, changes in the role of portraiture in the twentieth century. The module will be organised thematically but will include case studies of such artists as Holbein, Van Eyck, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Artemisia Gentilleschi, Elizabeth Vigee Lebrun, Cindy Sherman and others.