What do you want this Founder's portrait art to look like? Please list the physical description, Action & Magic, Clothing, Accessories, and Background that you would like to see for Tytalus's portrait.
I want his clothing to be discordant, but not gauche. He's not a court jester. Something like a black and white stripes waist coat, and striped pants.
He is one of the few magi, the other maybe Bjornaer, who I would expect to be physically fit. If I had any artistic skill, I'd draw Bjornaer as a man-mountain type; Tytalus should have a wiry strength, and would wear clothing to show off his toned arms. He strikes me as a healthy mind, healthy body type.
Minimal accessories. "Only weaklings need props". I have always seen Tytalus as someone who would call himself an Alpha. Have I mentioned it's my least favourite house?
The background subtly links in to Tremere's picture. Individually it just looks like they are casting a spell. Put side by side, it looks like Teremer and Tytalus are having a Certamen battle, with Tremere and Tytalus each having the Certamen with an avatar that best shows their preferred technique and form.
Kodlak is correct. Tytalus was a leper. Whether he hid it in public is unclear from memory but his filii certainly saw him as such. Of course, he had Persona, and I'm pretty sure he didn't go arround Muthic Europe being a leper all the time.
In the art of the middle ages, the stripes indicated a bad person because it was a visual representation of the mixed weaves forbidden in the bible: executionners for example oftem had yellow and red striped clothes in stained glass artwork to stigmatise them.
Now, tytallus being one of the two easiest "villain" houses, it would be par for course, but should be deliberate.
Otherwise, as a lepper probably wearing a bell/clapper and maybe a half mask (which calls back to the personna ability).
I might actually prefer multiple versions of several of the Founders, in particular Tytalus - before and after leprosy.
Birna was probably in very good health. My guess would be she was the most physically fit of the Founders. After all, her Heartbeast was the bear.
Oh, and she was female, obviously.
That strikes me more as a Tremere-type of deal, actually.
Woman-Mountain isn't a common term. More man as human, not man/woman.
And regarding Tytalus, yes, pre-leper.
I'd imagine we'd be looking at the pictures being the founders in their prime, not at the end of there careers.
Might be a nice touch to have Diedne and Trianoma included also.
There is a story hook somewhere in the books about a portrait of what is believed to be Diedne the Founder. An art piece could be added nearby to showcase how the portrait looks like.
(Also it helps Moreno did an artwork of Diedne the Founder as well...)
But I digress, probably doesn't matter though; that story hook was almost certainly not from the Corebook.
Probably not looking very malevolant or dangerous - unless he wanted to look that way.
Tytalus was a powerful sorcerer, but mainly he was a skilled politician and schemer. He is described as a social chameleon - able to adapt to nearly every social situation and pass himself off as "one of us" for just about any value of "us".
My description of Tytalus the Founder was practically taken word-for-word from the Tytalus chapter of HoH:s.
Do you disagree with my reading of the text, or do you just think the canon description of Tytalus should have been different?
Maybe have multiple portraits, possibly overlapping, to reflect his use of Personae? (It's such a big thing in House Tytalus that he has to have done something to that effect, even if he didn't have the actual virtue.)
Tytalus summons Zelos, the titan he saw as his personal patron.
A man stands next to a summoning circle. The circle is actually two circles, each of metal embedded into the floor; a smaller one within a larger one. Within the gap between the two circles lines spiral in clockwise from the outer to the inner circle. A candle is set where each line joins a circle, and braziers with incense are dotted around the room.
Tytalus is dressed in an all concealing robe and veil. He could be obeying the leprousy laws; or he could be playing with them because it suits him to conceal his features. It's probably the latter. One arm is raised to draw down power; within the other he holds a number of faintly glowing crystals [vis].
Within the summoning circle floats the titan Zelos. It appears as a greek youth dressed in a simple tunic with black-feathered wings. It holds a laurel crown.
[Tytalus was primarily a spirit magus / summoner (he had difficulty adapting to Hermetic magic, to the point he needed Bonisagus to jointly apprentice Pralix with him), so I'm illustrating his magic via him summoning something. The titan Tytalus saw as his personal patron seemed a good choice. He could be unveiled and showing his leprousy instead.]
