The document discusses the history of portraiture from its earliest known examples over 26,000 years old to modern practices. It notes some of the earliest surviving painted portraits come from Egypt's Fayum district. During ancient Greece and Rome, portraits began to idealize the subject rather than depict realistic likenesses. True portraits reemerged in the late Middle Ages in tombs, manuscripts, and panel paintings. Modern practices include photographic portraiture and self-portraiture. Perspective was developed in the 15th century Renaissance as a system to make drawings appear more realistic and three-dimensional.