This article examines the functions that commissioned portraits of leaders play in re-presenting the appearance of a particular leader, the office that he or she occupied as well as broader notions of idealized leadership at a particular point in time and place. We argue that one can usefully think of a portrait functioning as a virtual leader in terms of its latent and enduring influence upon followers. It is able to fulfil this function in large part because of its hybrid nature that brings together in material form various agents, institutions, interests and norms. To support these two arguments we examine the origins and conventions of commissioned portraits and show how their leadership functions have surprisingly endured. Using techniques drawn from art history, we analyse several portraits featuring historic New Zealand leaders that were included in an exhibition we mounte dentitled The Power of Portraiture. It is our contention that such official portraits, by virtue of their context in institutions and their role in commemorating a particular office, are powerful exemplars of ideal leadership to followers. This is accomplished by the repetition of historical visual conventions of representing leadership, and not in promoting a singular, heroic individual, an approach that would undermine the power of the institution.
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