Writer Polly Coles reads the final essay in her series on portraiture and our obsession with ourselves: Heads, bodies and legs. In this series, she looks at five different aspects of portraiture and makes the case that portraiture is the most intimate artistic conversation of all. Face to face with another human being, no other art form investigates and reveals more richly what it is to be human. Portraits can promote exploitation and self-aggrandisement, but at their best, they are instruments of honesty, love and profound attention.

Polly asks, if portraiture is a process of abbreviation, can the head really tell us everything?

Produced by Melanie Harris of Sparklab Productions
Photo by Ella Gradwell

You can find images of some of the paintings by artists referenced here:
Hogarth: bit.ly/WilliamHogarth-Characters
Hans Memling: bit.ly/HansMemling
Spencer Murphy: bit.ly/SpencerMurphy
Courbet: bit.ly/GustaveCourbet-Origin
Velasquez: bit.ly/Velasquez-LasMeninas
The Madonna del Parto: bit.ly/MadonnaDelParto
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