A Rajput noble

Before the Age of Profile Pictures: Indian Portraiture

A portrait, typically an image of an individual showing a likeness, conveys information about who they are, or perhaps, how they want to be seen. Portraits combine aspects of the “real” and the observed with the idealized and the imaginary, to make for powerful messages about one’s identity and self-image.

Before the twentieth century, portraits in India were mainly of kings, politicians, or important teachers—people whose skills, achievements, or contributions were considered worthy of memorializing. It was a high privilege to have one’s portrait made as it required resources to acquire the artistic talent and expensive materials. Numerous portraits of Indian rulers and noblemen survive from after the 1700s. They were included in dynastic or family histories, exchanged as personal and diplomatic gifts, and seen in public and private settings. Through an artist’s eye—and conveyed by clothing, accessories, and settings— portraits emphasized an individual’s character, abilities, status, and role in society.

Today, with the easy access to smart phones and social media, portraits as selfies and profile pictures proliferate in ways not seen before. They have become democratized in many respects, as each person can independently control the message and circulate it widely and quickly without the mediation of an artist’s interpretation. Yet, like the paintings on view here, ideas about who we are and what we want others to see about us remain key features of the art of the selfie.


, A portrait of an individual is often distinguished by an appearance unique to them. Here, the specificity of the subject’s facial features gives the impression that the artist was trying to capture the likeness of someone. Details like the style of beard and types of jewelry, especially the turban ornament, suggest he was perhaps a member of a Rajasthani royal family. But there is no inscription to identify the figure. A rendering like this raises interesting questions about the differences between a portrait and a generic character study: is it, for example, about knowing their name, or the social, ethnic, and professional groups they belong to, or their character traits and personal interests? In other words, where does individual identity reside?