In Sherman’s “History Portraits” series, the artist recreates herself as both male and female personages from Old Master paintings. Here, the long curly wig and open book imply a scholar from the 18^th-century Enlightenment, with its values of science, rationality, and progress. Sherman intentionally leaves obvious the make-up, prosthetics, and wig it takes to achieve her costume. With this series, Sherman literally places herself within the scope of art history, distorting classical notions of beauty and questioning traditional methods of presenting the human form.