I've seen lots of older paintings in museums and am always amazed at how beautiful the people in them look, but also skeptical. Forget about smallpox scars, this was a time before Clearasil with very little bathing; there's no way the painters painted exactly what they saw.
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I imagine those painters were masters at the art of balancing vanity and credulity.
I agree. But if there were a battle between vanity and credulity, where would you put your money? It's not like people back then had images on TV or photographs to compare the paintings to.
Think about it the next time you wander around an art gallery.
Well there were no museums right? Such portraits hung in private homes. But surely the patron's friends saw them. The artist had to flatter the first patron but not so much that his/her next patron thought it was all just flattery.
"An agreeable likeness Mynheer van der Burg-and yet so lifelike- Who did you say the artist was?"
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