This volume shows how the portraits of the Greeks and Romans gave shape to and reinforced the perceptions of the particular character of a person. These considerations are based on intensive archaeological research, which in recent decades has successfully addressed questions of typology, identification, and historical classification of ancient portraits. Three aspects are examined in the interweaving of case studies and general reflections: the preconditions for the creation of portraits; the medial conditions of the creation processes; the efficacy of the created form.