The Portrait. A Possible Connection between Psychology and Art

Abstract

This research intends to render the main aspects of the connection between psychology and art by means of psychological portrait. From remote times, it offered artists the possibility of understanding and rendering their models’ feelings by transposing their features and emotions into an artistic form. Throughout history, this type of portrait has received the attention of artists, who have shown that they have a keen interest in the psychological field, integrating in their works their knowledge on the characteristics and inner movements of the portrayed characters. All these action have been made possible by overcoming the formal threshold of the representation of physiognomic features and reaching their psycho-moral levels. In this respect, the creators’ aim has been that of rendering specific interdisciplinary issues related to the affective and imaginary level connections between the shape of one’s face and countenance, as well as the links between the manifested emotions and facial, gestural and body expressions, thus offering a visual interpretation of the personality of the portrayed person. Moreover, this study intends to offer a new and contemporary interpretation leading the way to a different type of understanding and depiction of the human countenance, based on the exploration of new ways of becoming acquainted with the human psyche and body.