The Face of Power

The Face of Power

Available on Prime Video, BBC Select
S1 E1: Portraits, especially of the powerful, can involve a battle for control between the artist and the subject. Historian Simon Schama explores the eternal power of portraiture. He investigates how a painting celebrating Winston Churchill's 80th birthday ended in disaster for both the painter and his sitter and how photography allowed Queen Victoria to rebrand the British monarchy as a modern family.