The National Gallery of Ireland presently has an exhibition of portraiture better known in the art world as tronies.
Tronies are described in the Art History Glossary as "Translated roughly from the Dutch as “faces” or “expressions”, tronien (pl.) were a category of subject in 17th-century Dutch painting. Tronien were painted from living models, but they were not intended to be recognized as portraits. Rather, they represented interesting characters or types, such as a dashing soldier or a drunkard, often with exaggerated facial expressions."
The NCH exhibition features works by Dutch and Flemish artists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries who were exponents of the tronie, such as Rembrant, Rubens, and Vermeer. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and the National Gallery of Ireland.
The NCH has created a curator's introductory talk that you can watch, before visiting the gallery, to learn more about what a 'tronie' is, and other insights into the exhibition! Have a look even if you don't make it to the exhibition itself.
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