Miniature Painting
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the painting of portraits on a small scale. It originated in the practice of embellishing manuscript books. As the initial letters were written with red lead (Latin minium), the art of illumination was expressed by the Low Latin verb miniare, and the term miniatura was applied to the small pictures introduced. After the invention of printing and engraving this delicate art entered on a new phase; copies in small dimensions of celebrated pictures came to be in considerable request, and, in particular, there arose a portraits. Holbein demand for miniature (1495-1543) painted exquisite miniatures, and having settled in London, his works nahad great influence in calling forth tive talent. Isaac Oliver (1556-1617) was employed by Queen Elizabeth and most of the distinguished characters of the time; his works are remarkable for careful and elaborate execution. Richard Cosway (1740-1821) was one of the most famous miniaturists of the 18th century. The last famous miniature painter was Sir William Ross (1794-1860), who lived to see his art superseded by photography. Among early American miniature painters were Stuart, Copley, Peale, and Trumbull. As to technical details, the early artists painted on vellum and used body colors-i. e., colors mixed with white or other opaque pigments; and this practice was continued till a comparatively late period, when thin leaves of ivory fixed on cardboard with gum were substituted. Many of the old miniature painters worked with oil colors on small plates of copper or silver. Miniature painting in the last decades of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th gained favor, but it has made little progress in popularity. The American Society of Miniature Painters, founded in 1899, hold exhibitions annually in New York.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's wrote in 1921 that the art had been "superseded by photography" and that the revival of about 1890-1910 "has made little progress in popularity" — and as a mainstream way of getting one's likeness taken, it never recovered. What survived was a craft society tradition: the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers, founded in London in 1896, still holds annual exhibitions, and miniature societies now show work in Britain and the United States, though the American Society of Miniature Painters of 1899 no longer exists. The ivory sheets Collier's describes as the standard support are effectively unavailable today, banned or tightly restricted under international trade law since the late twentieth century, so modern miniaturists paint on synthetic "ivorine," polymer board or vellum. The bigger shift is in emphasis: art historians now use "miniature" at least as often for Persian, Mughal and medieval illuminated painting as for the English portrait tradition, and Nicholas Hilliard, whom Collier's does not name, is generally ranked above Isaac Oliver as the founder of that English school.
Written for this edition, 2026.