All four portraits shortlisted for this year's BP Portrait Award in Britain are by male artists featuring female subjects, and several works selected for a special exhibition deal with ageing and faith.

The annual competition attracted over 1,700 entries in 2008 of which about one third came from outside the United Kingdom.

Among the nominees for the 25,000 pound prize is Robert O'Brien, who lives and works in London and Sweden.

His portrait, "Hannah O'Brien", features his grandmother whose deeply lined face looks like that of a woman who, in the artist's words, "overcame great hardships and difficulties in her life".

The picture was based on several sittings kept short due to her failing health. She died on October 26, 2007.

He is up against Simon Davis, whose portrait of friend Amanda Smith was influenced by a study by French artist Toulouse-Lautrec of his mother, and Peiyuan Jiang, a Chinese-born artist now studying in London.

The fourth nominee for the award is Craig Wylie, whose "K" is a large depiction of his girlfriend Katherine Raw.

FEAR OF GETTING OLD

Another painting dealing with age is a self-portrait by Angela Reilly.

"It is visible in the skin, the loss of tone, colour, and dryness, particularly around the lips," she said in a commentary explaining the piece. Her confrontational glare seeks to communicate the "fear of getting older."

Andrew Hunt's "Self Portrait With Winnie" depicts the painter holding his five-week-old daughter, and shows the baby's tiny body dwarfed by her father's torso as well as signs of sleepless nights in the dark bags under his eyes.

Religion is another recurring theme among 55 works selected for a special exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in central London.

Linda Hubbard's "Made in Britain" is a study on religion's place in British society and features a young man smiling, carrying a white flag and wearing a green T-shirt with the symbols of the Pakistani flag - a white crescent and a star.

On the shirt are emblazoned the words: "Don't Panic I'm Islamic!"

Paul Lisak's "Hamzah: The Silver Penny" portrays his friend and nephew adopting the role of Judas holding one of the 30 pieces of silver the Bible says he accepted to betray Jesus.

And Emmanouil Bitsaki explores the Serbian Orthodox faith of his friend in "Portrait of Serbian Student of Theology with the Serbian Patriarch in Background".

The winner of the prize will be announced on Monday, and the exhibition runs from June 12 to September 14.