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Portraits are an ancient and powerful means of communication.
Among the earliest known portraits are those that were made to commemorate ancestors and were used in religious ceremonies to revere their spirits. Later, portraits made during the Egyptian, Greek and Roman Empires were of gods, political leaders and military heroes. Such images, almost always made on a large scale and of permanent materials such as marble, identified for the community in no uncertain terms who the rulers were and who the important people were. Since the Renaissance era, another function of portraits has been to display the success and wealth of individuals. These portraits tend to be highly finished marble sculptures or oil paintings.