Can we get a catalog of depictions of the ancient leaders, teachers and others, done by their contemporaries?
To start off ... Alexander the Great, done in the 4th C BC by Lysippus
Seuthes III, a Thracian king
Bust of Julius Caesar, only one we still have that's was made while he was alive.
I have lots of pics of busts but Ill try to find some of noteworthy people.
King Ptolemaeus X
>>409790
Was it the sculptor or Julius's barber that gave him a tumor?
Cleopatra VII
King Amasis
>>409816
I actually don't know but I've heard about it before. It makes sense though because he had seizures.
>>407271
>>409829
Weren't the seizures due to his epilepsy?
>>409861
Very probably. Although some ancient historians also guessed it could have been from some disease he got from a mosquito in Egypt.
Also here's another theory. From http://www.history.com/news/julius-caesar-suffered-from-strokes-not-epilepsy-new-study-says
Also I think it was epilepsy personally. But it could've been the other two.
The earliest historians are mostly in agreement that it was epilepsy, although that might have been a misdiagnosis or propaganda since epilepsy was seen as sacred in some senses.
>>407271
A really easy and surefire way of finding contemporary pictures of leaders would be looking at coins issued, the ones with their picture are typically if not always the ones issued during their reign.
Also something interesting, after the famous battle with Constantine's vision of the cross happened, he did not convert to Christianity, but he made Rome more tolerant of Christians with certain laws.
He also depaganized the roman coins, it took decades but slowly but surely the deities that used to appear on backs of coins in worshiped were gone.
>>407271
Bump
>>409974
Some of them are fucked when it comes to the Diadochi and successor kingdoms. All of them essentially copied Alexander's portrait as a banner to rally behind.
>>409897
What the hell, Nero.
>>407271
Portrait of middle aged Zhu Yuanzhang
>>415358
Portrait of his son, the Yongle emperor Zhu Di.
Did Constantine even exist? Every depiction of him is quite different
>>415361
Portrait of Zhu Di's grandson, the Xuande Zhu Zhanji emperor hunting
>>415371
Painting of the Xuande emperor playing 'golf'.
The 1560's Ming Jiajing Emperor on a military procession.
>>415416
The Yongzheng Emperor in a Chinese copy of European Clothing hunting a Tiger.
Here's a marble bust found in the Rhone river, from around 46 bc. Possibly of Julies Caesar, which would make it the oldest known representation of Caesar.
>>415422
The Qing Dynasty's golden boy, Qianlong Emperor. Painted by an Italian Jesuit.
>>415427
That looks uncomfortable to talk in.
More Alexander
Eucratides of Bactria, on one of his fucking huge coins
>>417485
fug
>>407271
What could be a contemporary portrait of Shah Abbas I the Great, of the Safavid Dynasty. By an unknown italian painter in the early 1600s.
It's unknown if it's actually made by someone who saw Abbas, but a quick internet search reveals that it fits the description given by the englishman (who saw him):
>“[Abbas is] of an indifferent stature, neither too high, neither too low. His countenance very stern, his eyes fierce and piercing, his colour fwaiffy, his muftachees on his upper lip long, with his beard cut close to his chin, expressing his martial disposition, and inexorable nature, [so] that at the first a man would think to have nothing in him, but mischief and cruelty. And yet he is of nature courteous and affable, easy to be seen and spoken withal; his manner is to dine openly in the company of his greatest courtiers”
>>417526
And of course I write a textwall but I forget the actual picture.
>>417546
>>417546
And here Shah Ismail, the founder of the dynasty. Portrait painted by a venetian painter, now in Florentia. Again, it fits the descriptions we have from european travellers:
>This Sophi is fair, handsome, and very pleasing; not very tall, but of a light and well-framed figure; rather stout than slight, with broad shoulders. His hair is reddish; he only wears moustachios, and uses his left hand instead of his right. He is as brave as a game cock, and stronger than any of his lords; in the archery contests, out of the ten apples that are knocked down, he knocks down seven.
>>417560
And the last Safavid king that was represented by Europeans as far as I know, Tahmasp I, persian enemy of Suleiman the Great.
This one doesn't look a lot like the contemporary iranian depictions of him, specially the beard seems too big.
We have iranian depictions of a lot of the Safavid kings, though the native style often doesn't help to identify a lot of the facial traits in detail. There's an anon in this boards who often posts a pretty nice portrait of Shah Suleiman Safavid drinking wine for no apparent reason.
Bust of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleukid monarch famous thanks to demonization by the Jews.
Seeing this bust was one of my highlights when I visited Berlin the last time. It was quite small however.
Bust of Antiochus III
