Evaluation of symbolism in portrait art in terms of spirituality

When the history of art is examined as a whole, it is seen that across different religious beliefs and cultures, people express their emotions, thoughts and feelings by using symbols and icons in painting. With historical developments and changes, artists distorted the form in order to strengthen their expressions, but in order to convey the 'spirit' beyond the visible, they did not only stick to the form, but also highlighted the color factor and religious and spiritual symbols. Artists have reflected their experiences, emotions and thoughts in a style beyond the obvious, with the meanings of colors, the way they apply paints and the spiritual elements they use. In this context, portraits containing symbolic and spiritual elements and the works of the artists who produce them can only be interpreted within the influence of the period, movement and age they are in, and the artist's unique understanding. The form of expression of color in painting, how it reflects 'spirit' and 'symbolism', was examined based on Edmund Feldman's 'investigative art criticism' method. The reflections of symbolism in modern painting portraits have been examined and it has been seen that these reflections are mostly related to 'spirituality'. In addition, it is aimed to base the analyzes made using the 'picture evaluation scale' in the process of structuring the thesis on a scientific basis