ABSTRACT
Federal and Regency artists incorporated in their portraits their subjects' achievement or political or social status. They were expected to present a favourable image of an individual's life or character. Byron's portraits vary from historical documents to poetry. In most of them the poet looks a little stiff. Portraits cannot render the speaking or moving being, and Byron's notorious mobility of expression and mood made him difficult for contemporaries to pin down. Napoleon is not the only individual whose historical image is based chiefly on portraits made up from the works of others. Contemporaries often confused Byron the man with Byron the poet, a confusion Byron delighted in and helped perpetuate. Descriptions by diverse observers suggest that his appearance often dazzled them. Artists are now creating portraits of Byron about as frequently as when the poet was alive. Touched with Fire, Kay Redfield Jamison's study of manic-depressive illness features Byron as one of its star exhibits.
