The origin of the portrait miniature
Miniatures were first painted to decorate and illustrate hand-written books. Indeed, the word 'miniature' comes from the Latin word 'miniare'. This means 'to colour with re…
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Portrait miniatures: Nicholas Hilliard & Isaac Oliver
From his workshop in Gutter Lane, London, Nicholas Hilliard painted both courtiers and other wealthy patrons.
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Portrait Miniatures: Royal Portraiture 1580-1625
Miniatures were particularly useful to the monarchy. They were small enough to be given personally, sometimes in a public ceremony, as a sign of the monarch's favour.
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Portrait miniatures: from John Hoskins to Samuel Cooper
We do not know who taught John Hoskins miniature painting. But, like Isaac Oliver's son Peter, he used real silver and gold to create jewels, a technique invented by Hillia…
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Portrait Miniatures: Post-Restoration Period
Samuel Cooper carried on his successful business in London even after the execution of Charles I in 1649. When Charles II returned from exile in France in 1660, Cooper imme…
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Portrait miniatures: Susannah-Penelope Rosse
These miniatures are a delightfully intimate record of the artist, her relations and friends. Susannah's father was Richard Gibson, a miniaturist who learned to paint when …
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Portrait miniatures: painting on ivory
The first British artist to paint on ivory was Bernard Lens, in about 1707. At the same time that ivory replaced vellum, miniatures tended to become smaller.
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Portrait miniatures: Bernard Lens
Bernard Lens was the leading miniaturist from 1710 to 1740. His main competitor in the market for small portraits was Christian Friedrich Zincke, a fashionable enamel paint…
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Portrait Miniatures: the 18th Century
In the early 18th century miniaturists had experimented with ways to make it easier to paint on ivory with watercolour.
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Portrait miniatures and the Royal Academy
In 1768 a group of London-based artists established the Royal Academy of Arts. At the Academy 's annual exhibitions miniaturists displayed their tiny works in a room crowde…
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Portrait miniatures: India
In 1785 the miniaturists John Smart, Ozias Humphry and Diana Hill independently made the six-month voyage by boat to India.
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Portrait miniatures: from Richard Cosway to Andrew Robertson
Around 1801 the young artist Andrew Robertson developed a new style of miniature painting that became the dominant style of the mid 19th century. Robertson deliberately set…
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Portrait miniatures: the impact of photography
Photography, introduced in 1839, provided a wider public with affordable, accurate likenesses. Many miniaturists at the cheaper end of the market took up photography, while…
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Portrait miniatures: materials & techniques
The first portrait miniatures were painted by artists trained to illustrate hand-written books. They used similar materials and techniques, painting in watercolour on vellu…
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Portrait miniatures: settings & uses
No gold or jewelled lockets from Henry VIII's day survive and very few from Elizabeth I's. We have descriptions of these expensive cases but most have probably been broken …
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Portrait miniatures: other types of small portraiture
This section looks at four other small portrait types which competed successfully with the portrait miniature; so-called 'plumbagos', drawn in graphite or ink on vellum; en…
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Portrait miniatures: Common susceptibilities
Eighteenth and nineteenth century miniatures are usually painted in watercolour on ivory. Ivory is susceptible to changes in humidity and can warp or crack when restrained …
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Room 90a: Portrait Miniatures
The International Music and Art Foundation Gallery displays Miniature painting, a unique art form, with artists such as Nicholas Hilliard, Samuel Cooper and John Smart spec…
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Portrait miniatures: artist biographies A-E
Biographies A-E of British portrait minature artists.
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Portrait miniatures: artist biographies F-L
Biographies F-L of British portrait minature artists.
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Portrait miniatures: artist biographies M-Z
Biographies M-Z of British portrait minature artists.
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