Portraits were considered extremely important in early history because they were
a. a sign of wealth and recognition.
b. the only method for recording images of people.
c. the only accepted form of art, and therefore the only method for artists to earn an income.
d. popularized by rembrandt, who was and is considered the greatest philosopher of the renaissance.

Answer;

-The only method for recording images of people.

Explanation;

-Portraits were considered extremely important in early history because they were the only method for recording images of people.

-A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant.

explanation: we can only guess at how our actions may be perceived in the future. doing something really big like killing lots of people, saving lots of people, affecting the lives of lots of people is a sure fire way of being remembered in historical records. we can also make a difference in the history records by being a small influence on something bigger, whether that is as a civil servant, scientist or artist.

of course you could argue that we all affect history just as tiny cogs in a   bigger machine.

if you mean how do people influence our opinions of things which have already happened, then simply by writing a book which looks at things form a different perspective and trying to convince people that this perspective is more accurate or truthful. people do it all the time i.e. richard the third was a terrible or was he? plenty would disagree, it's just that their views aren't the most widely known.n:

c-three

explanation:

legislative, executive and judicial