Abstract
In one of his most frequently reproduced portraits, John Milton appears as a young man, depicted in a three-quarter view, looking sideways, not directly at but rather beyond the beholder. His small mouth and undereye lids hint at a faint smile. He has rather thick eyebrows, a straight nose, and the full cheeks and round chin of a youth. His long hair parted in curtains falls in graceful curls far below his shoulders, over his white collar and black robe. This familiar image that the general public associates with the name of John Milton differs however from authenticated portraits of the poet, and results from a series of alterations that started in the 19th century. The purpose of this essay is twofold: firstly, to trace the modifications made on portraits of the author of Paradise Lost, and to study them in the context of changing aesthetic preferences and psychological debates; secondly, to initiate a theoretical reflection on historical portraits. Drawing on recent scholarship on biofiction, this article will suggest that distorted images affect the portraits of “great men” by fictionalizing historical figures and presenting “iconofictions” that pass as portraits. Located at the intersection of art, history, and biography, this paper intends to discover how a modified portrait of John Milton became iconic even while it lost its status as a documentary piece.
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