A wide variety of formats are represented in the Library’s Portrait Collection, representing the developments in portraiture techniques over time. Items range from pocket-sized carte-de-visite photographs to elaborate works of art in acrylics and oils. 

Interesting formats found within the collection, include:

• Chromolithographs from Vanity Fair of noted Welsh and British public figures.

• Silhouettes from the Victorian period, and

• Various examples of card photographs produced during the nineteenth century boom period in photography.

In this section, a number of formats/media are described from the areas of drawing, painting, printmaking and photography, along with examples of items from the Library’s Welsh Portrait Archive.