Presenter Kate Bryan explores how portraiture developed over the course of the 18th and 19th century and picks her way through the National Portrait Gallery’s incredible collection of paintings and photographs. Kate explores how British painter William Hogarth came along to tear up the rulebook of portraiture and rebel against the continental influence of artists like Anthony van Dyck and Peter Lely. She hears about the founding of two British institutions: the Royal Academy of Arts, home to the likes of William Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, and the National Portrait Gallery itself. Finally, after looking at portraits of literary titans in the form of the Bronte sisters, Kate finds out how one technical innovation – the camera – changed the landscape of portraiture forever. Here, the fierce rivalry between Victorian photography pioneers Antoine Claudet and Richard Beard propelled photography towards the 20th century, capturing people and stories that would otherwise have been forgotten.