John De Critz
16th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings
Oil
17th Century English School Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Recent Sales
Early 17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
16th Century Flemish School Portrait Paintings
Oil
17th Century Old Masters Paintings
Oil
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Oil
People Also Browsed
Early 20th Century European Art Nouveau Vases
Bronze
Antique 19th Century English William IV Torchères
Wood, Mahogany
Vintage 1920s English Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Chinese Tang Figurative Sculptures
Pottery
Antique 19th Century Chinese Beds and Bed Frames
Gold Leaf
Antique Late 19th Century French Belle Époque Wall Clocks
Bronze
Vintage 1930s French Art Deco Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Macassar
Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Copper
Early 20th Century American American Colonial Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Antique 19th Century British Umbrella Stands
Antique 1820s English George III Andirons
Bronze
Antique 19th Century Chinese Beds and Bed Frames
Gold Leaf
Antique 19th Century Italian Greco Roman Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Bronze
Early 20th Century French Belle Époque Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Jade, Silver
Antique Late 19th Century Art Nouveau Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century French Neoclassical Gueridon
Marble, Ormolu, Tôle
Finding the Right Portrait-paintings for You
An elegant and sophisticated decorative touch in any living space, portrait paintings have remained popular throughout the years and are widely loved pieces of art for display in many homes today.
Portrait paintings are at least as old as ancient Egypt, where realistic, lifelike depictions of the recently deceased — commonly known as “mummy portraits” — were painted on wooden panels and affixed to mummies as part of the burial tradition.
For centuries, painters have used portraiture as a means of expressing a subject’s nobility, societal status and authority. Portraits were given as gifts in Renaissance Europe, and a portrait artist might have been commissioned to help mark a significant occasion such as a wedding or a promotion to high office. Prior to the advent of photography, which eventually replaced painted portraits as a quicker and more efficient way of capturing a person’s essence, the subject of a portrait had to sit for hours until the painter had finished. And during the 18th century in particular, if an artist commissioned for a portrait struggled with how to adequately memorialize and capture a subject’s likeness, sometimes a portrait painting wasn’t completed for up to a year.
Whether it’s part of the gallery-style approach to your living-room or dining-room walls or merely inspiration as you devise an eye-grabbing color scheme in your home, a portrait painting is a timeless decorative object for any interior. A landscape painting or sculpture might give you the kind of insight into a specific region of the world or a different culture that you can ascertain only through art. Similarly, when you take the time to learn about the subject of a portrait painting that you bring into your home — the sitter’s history, the relationship between the sitter and the artist should one exist, the story of how the portrait came to be — that work can become intensely personal in addition to its place as an object for an art-hungry corner of your apartment or house.
On 1stDibs, visit a vast collection of famous portrait paintings or works by emerging artists. Search by medium to find the right portrait paintings for your home in oil paint, synthetic resin paint and more. Find portrait paintings in a variety of styles, too, including contemporary, Impressionist and Pop art, or search by artist to find unique works created by painters such as Mark Beard, Steve Kaufman and Montse Valdés.