Unit 4 Lesson: Why Is en face Associated with Holiness?

Portraits of Christ as a holy person are predominantly en face. This was famously commented by Albrecht Dürer in a self-portrait often called “Myself as Christ”. In contrast, profane portraits were predominantly painted in profile, including portraits of the suffering Christ (“The Man of Sorrows”). Why did medieval artistsartists prefer to paint Christ en face? His face is thus directed toward the beholder, both face and gaze are intently directed at the beholder. Profane faces were noticeably more often painted in different degrees of profile. Is this a result of theological and historical conventions; or are there deeper biological and psychological reasons? Can face orientation and gaze direction influence how we judge positive and negative social attributes? Specifically, are almost symmetrical portraits with a direct gaze more associated with a positive attitude toward the portrait, as indicated by modern-day attribution of positive and negative adjectives to selected portraits?