Between Typology and Psychology: The Role of the Identification Portrait in Updating Old Testament Representations

The identification with Old Testament figures in a portrait historie serves chiefly as a hidden portrait, donor portrait, or ruler portrait, and is based on analogies of virtue, rank, name, or events. Three broad groups may be discerned: first, the identification of rulers and military leaders with biblical kings and commanders illustrates their virtue and the divine right of kings; second, wedding and family portraits, primarily in the Protestant Netherlands, demonstrate the self-image of the subjects as a new chosen people and the emulation of biblical forefathers; and third, identifications with Judith and Holofernes or David and Goliath suggest the artist's self-representation or personal, erotic meanings.