From noble portraits of the Renaissance period to depictions of middle-class life during the Realism movement, artists developed their own styles, and some even started painting their own self-portraits. Charles Watson-Wentworth, second Marquess of Rockingham, commissioned renowned English sports painter George Stubbs to do the magnificent portrait. Measuring an incredible 115 by 97 inches, the painting is a portrait of real-life racehorse Whistlejacket. Dali made his finding after reading the teachings of Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud, who assisted him in exploring the subconscious mind. During the 1920s, Dali was a student of art in Madrid when he encountered surrealism. Throughout different eras and artistic movements, portraiture has evolved alongside civilization. Whistlejacket is perhaps the most famous horse painting in art history. Salvador Dali is a Spanish surrealist painter best known for his exploration of the human psyche in all of his work. For this reason, early portraits were often an artistic representation of the person rather than portraying their true likeness. The best painters in the area would have been commissioned to create works of art, which were intended to capture the “true essence” of their subjects. Over the centuries, the traditional genre continued to be reserved for depicting royal families and religious figures. Some the earliest portraits are believed to have been painted onto stone by ancient Egyptians as a way to immortalize their rulers and gods. Prior to photography, painters were the ones who captured visual snapshots of mankind.

Famous reformation portrait painter