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L'art de se montrer : le costume comme langage du portrait
From royal silk to thinkers’ robes: costume as a mirror of identity.
To show oneself is to tell one's story. In portraiture, costume is never merely clothing — it is a language. Colors, fabrics, and accessories convey power, wealth, social status, or intimate aspirations. From the sumptuous garments of royalty to the austere attire of thinkers and religious authorities, every detail helps construct the image one wishes to leave behind — for others and for posterity. The portrait thus becomes a staging of the self, where clothing reveals as much as it conceals, transforming the individual into a character and the viewer into an interpreter.
Serge Legat - Art Historian, Professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Arts
