In my meanderings I stumbled upon this from the web site of John Howard Sanden.
As he is quick to point out, selecting the ten greatest portraits of all time is a brazen undertaking. But, Mr. Sanden seemed to take the task seriously, and is a great painter of portraits himself, so one would have to have a look. Also, he speaks as if he has personally seen each of the paintings.
I think he has even arranged them in order of their greatness, all the way up to the one single greatest portrait ever painted. A bold and brazen statement indeed, and one that I am not qualified to dispute. I was shocked to find that one of mine had only made it to number seven.
http://www.johnhowardsanden.com/comm...engreatest.htm