Shortlisted for the 2016 Art Book Prize, Authors' Club "In this fascinating publication, Loh (Univ. College London) employs a variety of strategies and material (20th-century French deconstruction; 21st-century vernacular and digital terms; cross-period parallels among artists and works; primary sources; the close study of paintings, drawings, prints, books, letters, medals, and sculpture) to make early modern artist self-portraits and their ... Read moreportraits painted by other artists accessible to contemporary readers... Loh's immersive readings of these works of art are original, detailed, nuanced, and often quite passionate, frequently emphasizing the vulnerability of artists and the difficulty of their work."
Choice "[A] powerful and sometimes troubling book."
Giles Waterfield, Burlington Magazine "[An] impressive book... In the world of social media saturated with Facebook and selfies, we may think that in 'managing our profile' we are shaping our portrait. After reading Maria Loh's engaging new study, one will never look at a portrait in the same way, much less believe that we exercise control over the potency and malleability of our image."
William E. Wallace, Renaissance Quarterly Show Less