Actors' portraits from the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century

Halfway between the history of art and the history of the theatre, between memory image and artistic image, the actor's portrait in France has never lost its formality since the 17th century, and it provides a precious source of information for the history of actors' representations, whether they are private or official portraits, allegorical, play, roles, posed or posthumous portraits. Like biographies, iconographic portraits build up memorable identities and are testimonies of a social game representative of an era or a cultural system. They must be elements of the creation of the artistic, professional and social identity of actors of great fame.