diff --git a/ui/dr-ui/src/identity.rs b/ui/dr-ui/src/identity.rs
index 6aa2121..e934d29 100644
--- a/ui/dr-ui/src/identity.rs
+++ b/ui/dr-ui/src/identity.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,13 @@ use crate::faces::{crop_face, FaceCrop, FACE_TIER};
 /// the same person* — is one the user cannot make from a postage stamp.
 pub const FACE_CROP_EDGE: u32 = 128;
 
+/// Edge of the portrait beside a name in the people rail.
+///
+/// Small on purpose: the rail is for *recognising* a person you already know,
+/// not for judging a likeness, and forty of them at grid size would be a
+/// second grid competing with the real one.
+pub const COVER_CROP_EDGE: u32 = 80;
+
 /// A row in the people rail.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
 pub struct PersonRow {
@@ -185,6 +192,37 @@ pub fn load_faces(
     Ok(out)
 }
 
+/// The face to show as a person's portrait.
+///
+/// Confirmed faces first, then the largest — `crop_px` is the number of source
+/// pixels the face actually occupied, so the largest is the one the user has
+/// the best chance of recognising. Falling back to a suggestion means a
+/// freshly clustered group still has a face beside it, which is the moment the
+/// portrait matters most: the rail is how the user decides which unnamed group
+/// to open first.
+pub fn load_cover(
+    catalog: &Catalog,
+    store: &ThumbStore,
+    person: PersonId,
+) -> Result<Option<FaceCrop>, dr_catalog::CatalogError> {
+    let rows = faces::for_person(catalog.connection(), person, true)?;
+    let Some(best) = rows
+        .into_iter()
+        .max_by(|a, b| {
+            a.confirmed
+                .cmp(&b.confirmed)
+                .then(a.crop_px.total_cmp(&b.crop_px))
+        })
+    else {
+        return Ok(None);
+    };
+
+    let Some((w, h, rgba)) = decode_proxy(catalog, store, best.image_id) else {
+        return Ok(None);
+    };
+    Ok(crop_face(&rgba, w, h, &best, COVER_CROP_EDGE))
+}
+
 fn decode_proxy(
     catalog: &Catalog,
     store: &ThumbStore,
diff --git a/ui/dr-ui/src/identity_ui.rs b/ui/dr-ui/src/identity_ui.rs
index 9ededd2..1ddb821 100644
--- a/ui/dr-ui/src/identity_ui.rs
+++ b/ui/dr-ui/src/identity_ui.rs
@@ -43,6 +43,13 @@ pub struct IdentityController {
     /// Images visited so far in the current sweep, and the total it announced.
     progress: std::cell::Cell<(usize, usize)>,
     faces_found: std::cell::Cell<usize>,
+    /// Rail portraits, kept between refreshes.
+    ///
+    /// Every mutating action reloads the whole screen, and cutting a portrait
+    /// costs a JPEG decode per person. Without this, confirming one face would
+    /// re-decode a proxy for every person in the library — and the rail does
+    /// not change when a suggestion is accepted.
+    covers: RefCell<std::collections::HashMap<PersonId, slint::Image>>,
 }
 
 impl IdentityController {
@@ -85,17 +92,37 @@ pub fn refresh(
     window.set_identity_unassigned(view.unassigned as i32);
     window.set_identity_calibrated(view.calibrated);
 
+    // Drop portraits for people who no longer exist, so a long session that
+    // merges and splits repeatedly does not accumulate them.
+    {
+        let live: std::collections::HashSet<PersonId> =
+            view.people.iter().map(|p| p.id).collect();
+        ctl.covers.borrow_mut().retain(|id, _| live.contains(id));
+    }
+
     let rows: Vec<IdentityPerson> = view
         .people
         .iter()
-        .map(|p| IdentityPerson {
-            id: p.id.0 as i32,
-            label: p.display_name().into(),
-            unconfirmed: p.is_unconfirmed(),
-            confirmed_faces: p.confirmed_faces as i32,
-            suggested_faces: p.suggested_faces as i32,
-            cover: slint::Image::default(),
-            has_cover: false,
+        .map(|p| {
+            let cover = store.and_then(|store| {
+                if let Some(img) = ctl.covers.borrow().get(&p.id) {
+                    return Some(img.clone());
+                }
+                let crop = identity::load_cover(cat, store, p.id).ok().flatten()?;
+                let img = to_slint_image(crop.width, crop.height, &crop.rgba);
+                ctl.covers.borrow_mut().insert(p.id, img.clone());
+                Some(img)
+            });
+
+            IdentityPerson {
+                id: p.id.0 as i32,
+                label: p.display_name().into(),
+                unconfirmed: p.is_unconfirmed(),
+                confirmed_faces: p.confirmed_faces as i32,
+                suggested_faces: p.suggested_faces as i32,
+                has_cover: cover.is_some(),
+                cover: cover.unwrap_or_default(),
+            }
         })
         .collect();
     window.set_identity_people(ModelRc::new(VecModel::from(rows)));
@@ -549,6 +576,7 @@ pub fn wire<S, M, P>(
             }
             ctl.selected.set(None);
             ctl.clear_picks();
+            ctl.covers.borrow_mut().clear();
             reload!(w, ctl, catalog, store);
         });
     }