In 1801, David was appointed by Napoleon as his "first painter".Afterward, he created the classic painting, The Coronation of Napoleon. He completed several versions of Bonaparte Crossing the Great St. Bernard, including the one in the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum collection.

The technical refinement and timeless appeal that mark the Napoleon portraits, and other paintings on show, are big attractions of the exhibition; while there is another motivation, to engage the audience in a discussion about "what people look like in their own eyes, and how others see them", according to the exhibition curator Qian Qian. "Answering these questions has been at the heart of portraiture throughout centuries."

Portraits are made not only to capture a subject's appearance but also to reflect their character, social standing and virtues; portraiture shows "the image the figures wanted themselves to be documented and remembered, in the long term", Qian says.

She says artists from different periods of time continuously explored new styles and visual philosophies to present their subjects, and also to interpret the progression of history in a specific, dynamic way.

She says from Renaissance and Baroque to realism and modernism, the exhibition navigates the evolution of portrait making, from the 16th to 20th centuries, and it examines how artists conveyed their own thoughts and feelings of the time, by profiling mythological characters, historical personalities and ordinary people. "At the exhibition, people will understand the enduring vitality of portraiture at a time when photography is highly developed."