Bringing face-to-face some 140 paintings and sculptures from public and private collections in Europe and America, the exhibition tries to catch the moment between public and private worlds when other rules of portraiture emerge.
Between 1770 and 1830, although very much in vogue in England and America, the painted portrait was still a minor genre in the hierarchy established in France by the Academy, placed after history painting. Nonetheless, like sculpted portraits, it flourished in the West in response to a strong public and private demand. Far from staying within the traditional codes dictated by the desire for pomp and prestige, the art of portrait painting enjoyed unprecedented popularity and gradually prevailed as the modern genre par excellence.

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