TRADUguide - Your Guide to Translators and Translation Agencies

149 months ago

Amanda Haste PhD, DipTrans(IoLET), MCIL, CL   asked this question:

This question has already been answered and rated. Therefore, no new answers can be given.

149 months ago

   wrote:

The beauty of a portrait

My comment:

The beauty of a portrait lies mainly in its portrayal of an individual.

In English, we talk about how well a portrait portrays an individual.

149 months ago

   wrote:

the essential beauty (of the subject)

My comment:

Tricky to translate neatly in English, but I agree with Bernard Devreux's interpretation: "principale" qualifies beauty and not the aim of the portrait. You might have to paraphrase a bit: "The aim of a portrait is to convey the essential/inner beauty of the subject/the most beautiful, defining aspect of the subject."

The asker rated this answer best

149 months ago

   wrote:

Beauty is the main aim of a portrait

My comment:

A painting has to bring out beauty/portray beauty.
Not that I agree with that statement as artists painted ugliness=reality-Caravaggio, French artists after Revolution too

Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

149 months ago

   wrote:

Jean Louis Davide, I just remembered who it was-his scenes of France scandalised as they portrayed the real France, not the one of the nobility, where everything was beautiful-idealised state

149 months ago

   wrote:

Jean Louis Davide, I just remembered who it was-his scenes of France scandalised as they portrayed the real France, not the one of the nobility, where everything was beautiful-idealised state

149 months ago

Josephine Cassar   wrote:

Beauty is the main aim of a portrait

My comment:

A painting has to bring out beauty/portray beauty.
Not that I agree with that statement as artists painted ugliness=reality-Caravaggio, French artists after Revolution too

149 months ago

Josephine Cassar   wrote:

The real beauty is the main objectif of a painting

149 months ago

Marie-Claire   wrote:

the real beauty of/in a portrait lies in the stirring of the heart.

My comment:

Poetic licence on my part... Good luck! I hope you find the answer you are looking for.

Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

149 months ago

Marie-Claire   wrote:

the real beauty lies in what the portrait is trying to convey/express. I think that might be closer to the answer... I don't like my first answer anymore.

149 months ago

Marie-Claire   wrote:

The purpose of a picture/portrait is to offer beauty to the eyes of the beholder, before anything else.

149 months ago

Marie-Claire   wrote:

Extracting the inside beauty is the main goal of a portrait