Are all the portraits of the emperor you see now the true face of the emperor?

The portraits of the emperors we saw were not their real faces. Many painters paint the emperor beautifully when they paint for him.

First of all, the painter will paint the emperor more beautifully.

In ancient times, after the emperor ascended the throne, he would ask an artist to draw a portrait of himself. The portrait of the emperor will be hung in the ancestral hall for future generations to bow down and pay their respects. In order to preserve his beautiful image, the emperor always asked the painter to paint himself more beautifully. Painters naturally dare not paint the shortcomings of the emperor on the drawing paper. After all, none of them dared to offend the emperor. Even if the emperor's body is incomplete or not very beautiful, the painter will try his best to make their image more perfect.

Secondly, some portraits of emperors were created according to the artist's imagination.

In fact, not only living emperors will look for portraits of emperors, but even those emperors who have died will also need to draw pictures. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang once respected his father as emperor after he ascended the throne. Once Zhu Yuanzhang's father becomes emperor, the painter will definitely paint his portrait and hang it in the ancestral hall. But when Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, his father had died for many years, and the painter didn't know the true appearance of Zhu Yuanzhang's father at all. So you can only draw according to Zhu Yuanzhang's requirements. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang will probably tell the painter that it is enough to paint his father as sincere and kind. Painters can create a more honest and kind face according to such requirements, but such a face is not the same as Zhu Yuanzhang's father's face at all.

Third, why is this happening?

Ancient people paid special attention to their own image, especially the ancient emperors. When they ask painters to paint their portraits, they will put on their costumes. If there are some obvious shortcomings on the emperor's face, the painter will definitely be afraid to draw these shortcomings for fear of the emperor. So the portrait of the ancient emperor is not the true face of the emperor. Those painters either beautify these portraits or imagine them out of thin air.