Indian portraits, either in stone, metal or painting, are increasingly attracting the attention of scholars. The study of these images need to be accompanied by the reading of literary and epigraphical documents, as well as some of the normative texts that could explain their purposes. Although not labelled ‘portraits’ but only ‘images of men’ or of ‘bhaktas’, they are, in fact, mentioned in ancient Śilpaśāstras and related works as well as in agamic treatises. Relying on some of theses texts, this article tries to characterise the different persons depicted, among which the devotees and the kings/kṣatriyas are the most important, and compares them with the images of gods and goddess, especially in their ritualistic use. It seeks also to show the importance of the ‘images of men’ in the iconometric system—a system which, besides its more technical aspects, aims at establishing a hierarchy of gods and diverse beings.