I became interested in the idea of the silhouette when I learned about its history and its place in time.  Nobody really knows who came up with the idea, however there is an ancient story of its origin.

It was written by Pliny the Elder between the years 77 and 79 AD.  Long ago, there was a potter named Butades who had a daughter called Dibutade who was deeply in love.  Her lover had to leave on a long journey and Dibutade was worried she would forget what he looked like.  Since cameras were not invented back then, she sat him down, shone a light at the side of his face and traced the outline of his shadow on the wall.  Her father Butades saw the likeness of the man's face on the wall and he pressed clay inside the outline.  Soon after, he fired it into his kiln.  If this story is true, it may have been the first use of the silhouette as an art form.

The ancient idea of the silhouette has its place in every part of the world.  It was used in ancient Egypt in the pyramids, it was used in Greece on vases and China and the Middle East have been known to trace the outline of their shadows made by the sun.

Silhouettes have been around for centuries, however they became especially popular between the 16th century and the mid 19th century.  They can also be called profiles, shades, shadows or shadow portraits.  

Before photography, silhouettes were very popular and were widely used.  Cutting them was a hobby of Catherine de Medici during the 16th century.  Silhouettes were used as love tokens by countless soldiers during wartime to remember their loved ones.  Profiles were also posted in many families homes for hundreds of years to remember their dead relatives.  Before the invention of tracing machines, cutting someones profile was a well respected art form.  It was done using only scissors.  There was no drawing, tracing or machines used.  Silhouette artists who work this way are called " true silhouette artists".

Profile portraits were especially common between the 18th and 19th centuries.  They were a cheap way for a working class person at the time to get their portrait done as not everybody could afford a painted portrait.  In fact, only a hand full of people had the money to spend on a painted portrait.  Between the late 18th and early 19th century, the name of this art form was changed from shadow portraits to silhouettes.