The 17th century painting that reveals this mysterious image

National Gallery/Trump/Vance Transition Team

Following the release of the official portrait of the US president-elect, an expert reveals how flipping through the pages of art history can help decipher its meaning.

Whether or not your policies align with those of Donald Trump, it's hard to deny that a series of recent photographs of the former and future president of the United States are as visually arresting as any in the American political history, instantly becoming part of the culture. awareness.

The release of Trump's official portrait last week, ahead of today's inauguration, completes a triptych of striking images that began with the late August 2023 release of his booking photo, taken after his indictment in Georgia for plot to overturn the results of the presidential election. 2020 election. This image, the photo heard around the world, was followed, almost a year later, by the astonishing photo of a blood-covered candidate Trump, raising his fist in the air in defiance after being hit in the right ear by a thug. be the assassin's bullet.

Carefully choreographed, every aspect of the official photo is calibrated for maximum impact, from the almost metallic, twilight light in which Trump's face is inflamed from below to his stern, asymmetrical gaze.

As captivating as these first two previous photos are, the most recent portrait, taken by Trump's chief photographer Daniel Torok and released by his transition team in the run-up to Trump's swearing-in, is perhaps to be the most extraordinary of all. . There is simply no precedent in the American presidential portrait because the piercing intensity of the expression and the bellicose thrust of the gaze consecrate an aggressiveness of the gaze for which one must browse the pages of art history to find a convincing parallel.

Fulton County Sheriff/Getty Images/Trump and Vance Transition Team

Trump's portrait completes a triptych of striking images of the US president-elect. (Fulton County Sherriff/Getty Images/Trump/Vance Transition Team)

Although Trump deliberately sculpted his provocative pose for his Atlanta photo, neither the staging of this photograph nor the dramatic image captured in the chaotic moments following the attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, were not under its control. Torok's was. Carefully choreographed, every aspect of the official photo is calibrated for maximum impact, from the almost metallic, twilight light in which Trump's face is inflamed from below to his stern, asymmetrical gaze. The photographer succeeded.

Traditionally, official presidential photographs (even those taken by Trump eight years ago, when he assumed high office) are designed to communicate openness and affability. They are serene, smiling and, almost invariably, forgettable. They seem to be saying, “better days are on the way.” Not this one. The ominous image is a firm declaration of an impending goal. Although journalists have struggled to distill the essence of the portrait into everyday language, hearing words like “sullen” and “stern,” Trump's expression resists the ease of subtitles. It's, well, strange.

Ever since Aaron Shikler's famous 1971 painting of a contemplative President John F. Kennedy, crossing the arms has been the default posture of any thoughtful leader.

To capture the particularly penetrating pulse of the president-elect's gaze, we really need a new word imbued with unflinching triumphant intent. “Trumpant” will do the trick. The closest echo in art history of such a fiercely narrowed, closed-eyed and, yes, deceptive gaze is an offbeat brushstroke portrait by the 17th-century Italian Baroque artist Salvator Rosa , whose intense personification of the scientific discipline Philosophy (a captivating painting which is in the National Gallery in London) is equally austere. The looks of both images, painting and photo, seem calculated to ward off the slightest murmur of dissent. Rosa's subject is shown holding an intimidating sign reading “Keep silent, unless your speech is better than silence.”

The National Gallery, London

Philosophy, a portrait by the 17th-century Italian Baroque artist Salvator Rosa, is comparable to the official image of Trump. (The National Gallery, London)

Although its aura is ostensibly warmer, Torok's photograph of Vice President-elect JD Vance, released alongside Trump's, has an unexpected edginess of its own. It also engages in intriguing conversation with images from art history. Unlike Trump, Vance is technically smiling. But it is more of a reserved and closed smile than a wide open ray. A constant air of reserve is amplified by Vance's emphatically crossed arms. He's quite happy to see you, but not ready to share.

Kelly Grovier

Kelly Grovier is a poet, art historian, and author of recent books exploring Banksy's reinventions of art history and the surprising origins of the pigments used to create the world's masterpieces.

There's too much that can be made about Vance's body language. After all, he's not the first president or vice president-elect to fold his arms while posing for an official portrait. Similar positions were taken by Joe Biden and Barack Obama for their official portraits. Ever since Aaron Shikler's famous 1971 painting of a contemplative President John F. Kennedy, depicted with his arms crossed and deep in thought, crossing his arms has been the default posture of any thoughtful leader.

Getty Images/Trump/Vance Transition Team

JD Vance's portrait can be compared to Paul Cézanne's The Man with Crossed Arms, 1899. (Getty Images/Trump/Vance Transition Team)

But in Vance's portrait, it's not just his limbs that appear bent. Everything about him seems closed off and inaccessible. Even his lips seem to cross his arms. His attention seems firmly fixed elsewhere, outside the frame, recalling the inscrutable Portrait of the Man with Crossed Arms, 1899, by the pioneering French artist Paul Cézanne. As with Cézanne's model, Vance's mind, as much as his body, is enveloped, tightly bound and inerasable. Announcing the release of the official portraits to the media in an email, Trump's transition team insisted the images “go hard” and punctuated the assertion with a fire emoji. It remains to be seen to what extent these photos provide insight into the impending portrait of America that its new leaders intend to paint.

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