Who has sat for the greatest number of portraits in their lifetime?

lanfranco

This is just a guess, Gmack, but after reviewing the art-historical situation, I am going to say, the Queen. And some of them aren't half bad. Apr 25 05, 8:20 PM

robboy

'The' queen? Are we down to just one now? I was thinking Bonaparte, as I seem to see a new one virtually every time I visit a new city or someone's house. Apr 25 05, 8:45 PM

lanfranco

Robboy, I was attempting to be respectful to the Brits on the site, though who knows? They may not care. And how many Danes and Dutch do we have? Napoleon? Well, there were quite a few, and I've always been fond of the Ingres group, ridiculous though they are for the most part, and the great David; but Napoleon didn't live as long as Elizabeth has, and every time I turn around, I hear that she's posing for yet another portrait. The Lucien Freud effort was quite interesting. What cities are you visiting that you keep seeing portraits of Napoleon? Apr 25 05, 9:03 PM

lanfranco

Well, there is this rather sweet St. Luke-the-Artist legend (see the Roger van der Weyden in Bruges), though only the really credulous buy it. It does occur to me that Gmack might be talking about someone very far back. All of those statues and coin portraits of Roman emperors were, for the most part, factory-made copies. Apr 25 05, 10:28 PM

gmackematix

By the way, I'd better make it clear that this is one of those ones where I don't have an answer in mind and so am after whatever you can give me on the matter. Apr 26 05, 12:18 AM

lanfranco

My answer stands, especially if you're also counting formal portrait photographs. There are probably more pictures and/or statues of "The Dear Leader" in North Korea, but he wouldn't have bothered to sit for most of them. The same goes for the portraits of Lenin and Stalin that once decorated the Soviet Union and those of Mao in China. And I still want to know why robboy is socializing with all these Napoleon lovers. Apr 26 05, 7:37 AM

robboy

Well, shoot, now the whole thing's gone moot. I figured I'd have a definitive answer by the time I got back, but I'll settle for the terrific PC lessons instead. Plus I still get to still hang out with all my Boney-loving friends. Apr 26 05, 10:32 AM

gmackematix

You may be correct with Queen Liz II. It's hardly a definitive source, but I vaguely remember a Trivial Pursuit question which in essence asked the same thing and they agree with you. Mind you, Trivial Pursuit also thinks Phileas Fogg was the first man to fly around the world. Apr 27 05, 12:28 AM