1700-talets mest eftertraktade porträttform – en studie av Sergels porträttmedaljonger

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines the portrait medallions produced by the Swedish sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel, their artistic characteristics and reasons for their popularity during late eighteenth century. In addition, literature studies were made. Sergel’s medallions combined inspiration from classical antiquity with strong sense of individual characterization, balancing idealization and realism. Six portrait medallions devided into three opposite pairs were more closely analyzed in regard to the contemporary influence of neoclassical ideals, design and meaning as well as to Johann Caspar Lavater’s physiognomic theories focusing on expressions of personality and moral character. In summary, the medallions served an important social function as markers of status, identity, friendship, and belonging. Their success can be understood as the result of the interaction between neoclassical aesthetics, contemporary intellectual ideas and Sergel’s exceptional artistic ability to unite elegance with psychological depth.