Portraits
Portraits capture people as individuals, in their own time. Before the invention of photography, people were immortalised in portraits by painting. The style of each portrait depends on the era, artist and purpose of the portrait. The painting can be classical, realistic or something else. The composition of the painting, the person’s position, expression and gaze as well as colours and clothing can be used to communicate different things. The portrait tells a story about the model and the painter.
In addition to portraying the individual, portraits provide a lot of information about the culture, society and values of their time. The portrait captured the appearance and character of a person and often also their social status. Artists had their own styles, but often the picture also shows the beauty ideals of the time and the general ways of depicting the subject. Portraits painted at a certain time are often very similar to each other.
Select an image for more information
Unknown woman in the 16th century
Lieutenant General Robert Muhl
Ludwig Heinrich von Nicolay
Enoch Hjalmar Furuhjelm
Amanda Gustava Costiander, Gustaf Robert ja Torsten Costiander
Maria Henriksdotter Wärdh
Fanny Churberg
Gustav Mauritz Armfelt
Ferdinand Alexander Leonard Candelin
Niklas Keder
Eliel Aspelin-Haapkylä
Unknown woman in the 16th century
An unknown woman in the late 16th century. The dress represents the fashion of noblewomen, which included a pearl cap, velvet dress, white millstone collar, apron and lace cuffs.
The painting was previously owned by merchant Claes Tallqvist in Rauma. Behind the painting is an inscription that says “Owned by Mr Claus Tallqvist, loaned to the town hall in 1825”. The Town of Rauma donated the painting to the Finnish Antiquarian Society in 1884.
Artist: Anton (senior) Möller. H2287:2.
Digital collection
Lieutenant General Robert Muhl
Lieutenant General Robert Muhl (1683–1760) in 1728. Robert Muhl was the last male member of his military family. He participated in numerous battles in the Great Northern War and was shot in the left thigh, for example. In Poltava, he lost his horse and almost became a prisoner of war. From Chernivtsi, he was taken to Tobolsk, from where he fled in 1720. He participated in battles in Finland as late as in the 1740s. Robert Muhl was buried in Turku Cathedral.
Artist: J. David Swartz. H5674:1.
Digital collection
Ludwig Heinrich von Nicolay
Ludwig Heinrich von Nicolay (1737–1820) in 1794. Von Nicolay was a German-born academician and writer in Russia. Since the 1780s, he owned the Monrepos Manor in Vyborg, where he collected a remarkable library of Enlightenment literature. Nowadays, the collection can be found in the library of the University of Helsinki. Von Nicolay also built the famous landscape park on the Monrepos Manor grounds.
Artisti: Johann Baptist (senior). H2005091:3.
Digital collection
Enoch Hjalmar Furuhjelm
Enoch Hjalmar Furuhjelm (1823–1886) in 1851. Furuhjelm was a Bergmeister, mineralogist and mining engineer. He worked in Alaska as a mining engineer for the Russian-American Company from 1854 to 1862.
Artist: Johan Erik Lindh. H89073.
Digital collection
Amanda Gustava Costiander, Gustaf Robert ja Torsten Costiander
Amanda Gustava Costiander, Gustaf Robert and Torsten Costiander in 1836. The father of the family, Gustaf Julius Costiander, had died in 1832 at the age of 38, which is why Amanda Gustava is wearing a black widow dress. One of the sons, Torsten Costiander, acquired Nuutajärvi Manor in 1869.
Artist: Carl Peter Lehmann. H2010094:1
Digital collection
Maria Henriksdotter Wärdh
Vicar’s wife Maria Henriksdotter Wärdh in 1686 at the age of 26. Maria was married to Mikael Brunlöf, the vicar of Kalanti. The portrait features luxurious details, such as a red petticoat, lace trims and heavy gold chains. In the 17th century, the clergy were not allowed to dress flamboyantly, but were required to have a modest appearance.
Artist: Diedrich Möllerum. H4549:2.
Digital collection
Fanny Churberg
Fanny Churberg (1845–1892) in 1862. Fanny was a painter who studied in Düsseldorf and Paris, and was a master in landscape painting. She was also an advocate for women’s rights and founded the Friends of Finnish Handicraft in 1879.
Artist: Betty Hougberg. H5120.
Digital collection
Gustav Mauritz Armfelt
The painting of Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt (1757–1814) is from 1800 or 1801. Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt is one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in Finnish history. Armfelt was an infantry general, count, courtier and diplomat. He was born in Marttila and died in Tsarskoje Selo. During the reign of Gustav III, he was an influential person in Sweden and later became a trustee of Alexander I of Russia.
Artist: Joseph Grassi. H84039:1.
Digital collection
Ferdinand Alexander Leonard Candelin
Ferdinand Alexander Leonard Candelin in 1879. Ferdinand Alexander Leonard Candelin was the firstborn of Maria Candelin and Arthur Leonard Candelinin. Hän kuoli vain kahden viikon ikäisenä 2.2.1879. Arvid Liljelund's post mortem portrait of the infant is atypical of its time. Children were often immortalized in photographs, but more rarely as portraits.
Artist: Arvid Liljelund. H45019:5.
Digital collection
Niklas Keder
The portrait depicts Niklas Keder. Painted in watercolour, the miniature painting is only 3.6 cm high and 2.9 cm wide. Keder (1659–1735) was a Swedish numismatist and, in 1697, he was appointed to the Swedish College of Antiquities as an assessor. Elias Brenner (1647–1717), who painted the miniature, was a court miniature painter, numismatist and assessor born in Isokyrö.
Artist: Elias Brenner. H32100:57.
Digital collection
Eliel Aspelin-Haapkylä
Eliel Aspelin-Haapkylä (1847–1917) in 1897. Eliel Aspelin was Professor of Aesthetics at the University of Helsinki and the first Chairman of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.
Artist: Akseli Gallen-Kallela. H32100:124.
