Miniature painting

“ After architecture, miniature drawing alone sustained the chief honor of art through a long course of centuries; and, without it, the history of painting could not be written. Born in the disastrous days of barbaric irruptions, miniature grew up within the shadow of the cloister, and contained within itself the germs of all the magnificence which the pencil of Italy finally produced. ”

“ I was surprised to find that it was an exceedingly clever piece of painting. Instead of the conventional product of the miniature maker that I had expected I beheld the handiwork of an able and painstaking artist. Well drawn, well modeled, well handled in respect of color, it presented the exterminator to the life. ”

“ When one considers the beautiful effects which have been produced in it by the hands of masters, and especially the valuable quality of permanence which such works possess (for an enamel by Petitot is as brilliant to-day as it was when it was fired) , one must wish that artists would devote themselves to so satisfactory a record of contemporary portraiture. Miniature painting upon ivory, charming as it is in its delicate effects, is, as we all know, subject to the great defect of being fleeting in its nature, when exposed to light. ”

“ For the works of Faithorne or Loggan, Flatman or Lens, we must refer our readers to more elaborate books on miniature painting, and hasten forward towards the eighteenth century. Before we do so, however, it may be of interest that we should refer to an illustration in colour of a miniature which has not hitherto been represented in any book on this subject. It is a portrait which has been bequeathed through various owners as a likeness of John Milton (Plate X.) , and there is a good deal of evidence to support this very interesting attribution. ”

“ The history of miniature painting, however, is not complex—the methods and materials being much the same throughout its development or decline. The art is largely confined to the simple portrayal of heads, with only occasional contributions of fanciful subjects. ”

“ Illumination in the 15th century enters on a new phase. The balance is no longer evenly maintained between the relative values of the miniature and the border as factors in the general scheme of decoration. The influence of a new sentiment in art makes itself felt more and 15th Century. more; the flat treatment of the miniature gradually gives place to true laws of perspective and of figure-drawing, and to the depth and atmospheric effects of modern painting. ”

“ Thus the miniatura meant the picture painted by the great artist. The word miniature, in its present sense, was born in the 18th century, which was the best period of British miniature painting.
The material on which miniatures have been painted has varied from time to time. To-day ivory cut very thin is almost invariably used.
The elephant is not a graceful or artistic beast, and no particularly sentimental thoughts at first sight attach to him. But artists to-day would be at a loss without his tusks, and much sentiment is lavished on them in the form of lovers' portraits. ”

“ This period, the eighteenth century, marks the introduction of miniature painting into America, where it became popular as an expression of art during and after the Revolution, as large oil portraits had been before. ”

“ Chapter CLVII. is entitled, “How You Must do Miniature-Painting and Put Gold on Parchment.” It is quoted in full. “First, if you would paint miniatures you must draw with a leaden style figures, foliage, letters, or whatever you please, on parchment, that is to say in books; then with a pen you must make the delicate permanent outline of what you have designed. Then you must have a paint that is a sort of gesso, called asiso, and it is made in this manner; namely, a little gesso sottile and a little biacca, never more of this than equals a third part of the gesso ”

“ After his time and that of his contemporaries Sir William Ross, J. D. Engleheart, Robertson, Newton, and Thorburn, the art of miniature painting died away until its revival in recent times.
The painters who worked in enamel occupy a section of miniature work apart, although in many instances the best known enamellers painted portraits also on ivory or on vellum, but they are especially known for their works in enamel. ”

“ Miniature painting in France I should decidedly say was much inferior to that of England, they are very fond of thick muddy back-grounds, their colouring partakes of the same dirty hue, there is generally a stiffness in the position, and much high finish without effect; there are certainly some exceptions to this rule, at the head of which is Madame Lezinska de Mirbel, whose miniatures are broad, bold, and natural, but always plainer than the originals; there are a few others who have come forward latterly, whose performances are above mediocrity. ”

“ The new style of English miniature painting is distinguished by richness of colour, and by the careful modelling of the faces, which compares favourably with the slighter treatment by the contemporary French artists. Similar attention to the features also marks the northern Flemish or Dutch school at this period and in the early 15th century; and it may therefore be regarded as an attribute of Germanic art as distinguished from the French style. The promise of the new development in English miniature painting, however, was not to be fulfilled. ”

“ It should be the task of each successive generation to see that the art of miniature painting is encouraged. Miniatures must be taken seriously, not regarded as mere bric-à-brac or trifles. I repeat, we must insist upon a high standard. We have a goodly heritage of beautiful work of unique historical value handed down to us, and it is a duty to perpetuate this series, so that the "fair women and brave men" of our own days shall not go unrepresented ”

“ Miniature painting on ivory, or paintings "in little," as they have been called, gradually developed into a "personal" art, because of their peculiar appeal to the sentiments and affections, and for their "companionable proportions." ”

“ Pupil of the Slade School and Royal Academy in London, and of M. Charles Chaplin in Paris in his studio. A miniaturist whose works are much esteemed. Her work is life-like, artistic, and strong in drawing, color, and composition. After finishing her study under masters she took up miniature painting by herself, studying the works of old miniaturists.
Recently she writes me: "I have departed from the ordinary portrait miniature, and am now painting what I call picture miniatures. ”

“ In two countries especially, the art of painting miniatures has flourished, England and France, and in these two countries there have been schools of miniature painters, and a succession of great exponents of the art, while in the other countries of Europe there have only been now and again painters who have devoted especial attention to this branch of their art, and have taken high position in it. ”

“ A Scotch miniature painter. Studied in Edinburgh, first in the School of Art, under Mr. Hodder, and later in the life class of Robert Macgregor; afterward in Paris under Benjamin-Constant.
Mrs. Arnold writes me that she thinks it important for miniature painters to do work in a more realistic medium occasionally, and something of a bolder character than can be done in their specialty. She never studied miniature painting, but took it up at the request of a patroness who, before the present fashion for this art had come about, complained that she could find no one who painted miniatures. ”

“ This subject is one of very great importance to the collector, upon whose credulity the forgers appear to be able to reckon to any extent, and it is really remarkable the way in which people, who should know better, will bring out from their cabinets works to which they do not hesitate to attach some of the most eminent names to be found in the annals of the art of miniature painting. If only they have picked them up themselves, that appears to be one of the chief recommendations and guarantees of authenticity. ”

“ George of Denmark, the consort of Queen Anne (Plate XI.) from the Hodgkins collection, setting forth his characteristics in a satisfactory fashion.
The catalogues of the Royal Academy are full of the names of miniature painters. The period of its foundation was prolific in the number of limners it produced. Miniature painting was the fashion. There were half-a-dozen important painters, and two or three hundred lesser men. The greater men stand out distinctly. Of the lesser men, many are only names to us. ”

“ While love lasts the miniature will always be in vogue, for artists frankly admit that it is so convenient to carry in the pocket. It represents so much in so little. Miniature painting is especially therefore "the lovers' art." Some say that it makes the subject "beautiful for ever," and what more could Romeo want?
Ivory, however, is of comparatively modern use in the art world and the studio. Vellum, gold, silver, and enamel were the things on which miniatures were painted before the days of ivory. ”

“ After the time of Justinian (a.d. 527-565) mosaics began to be less artistic, and those of the later time degenerated, as did everything else during the Middle or Dark Ages, and at last all works of art show less and less of the Greek or Classic influence.
When we use the word miniature as an art term, it does not mean simply a small picture as it does in ordinary conversation; it means the pictures executed by the hand of an illuminator or miniator of manuscripts, and he is so called from the minium or cinnabar which he used in making colors. ”

“ Often the pictures are exquisitely-finished miniatures belonging to the best schools of painting of the day; but often also they are clearly the work of men employed to fill up a space, and having no interest in their work save livelihood. The ornament never fell quite so low as that, though as ornament it is not very "distinguished," and often, especially in the latest books, scarcely adds to the effect on the page of the miniature to which it is a subsidiary. ”

“ The installation in the Metropolitan Museum of Art of the comprehensive collection of miniatures owned by the estate of the late J. Pierpont Morgan has no doubt done much to increase this, and inspire the purchase and gifts of examples by American painters, for the Museum collection, that are now on permanent exhibition there.
Just when the art had its beginning has never been definitely determined, but its evolution from the portrait painting in illuminated manuscripts and parchments of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is generally accepted. ”

“ Her first portrait of her mother was accepted by the Salon in Paris in 1894, and upon her return to New York she exhibited pictures annually at the National Academy. She believes that the great principles of art that obtain in oil painting should apply to miniature work as well; and she paints her miniatures in the same manner as she would paint in oils—with only the difference in treatment required by the conditions of a small sized picture. ”

“ Kersey's Dictionary (1720) explains homely as "ugly, disagreeable, course (coarse) , mean."
INFLUENCE OF ASSOCIATION
Change of meaning may be brought about by association. A miniature is a small portrait, and we even use the word as an adjective meaning small, on a reduced scale. But the true sense of miniature is something painted in minium, red lead. Florio explains miniatura as "a limning (see p. 63) , a painting with vermilion." ”

“ To gain his living and help to support his father he coloured theatrical prints and painted a few miniatures. He commenced exhibiting at Somerset House with a miniature of his father in 1826. His first oil painting, ‘Instruction,’ was shown two years later at the British Institution, and was sold at the private view. ”

“ When the most important exhibition of miniatures ever held in this country—namely, the collection which was brought together at South Kensington, in 1865—was being arranged, its organisers were confronted with the difficulty attaching to a definition of the term; and it may be worth while to give the conclusion they arrived at.
In reply to the question, What constitutes a miniature portrait? they remark that miniatures may be drawn on any material, painted in any medium, and in every style of art. ”

“ Gradually the miniaturist—the picture painter—although at first almost as formally decorative as the illuminator—asserts his independence, and influences the treatment of the border, which becomes a miniature also, as in the Grimani Breviary, the Romance of the Rose, and the Choir Books of Siena, until at last the miniature or the picture is in danger of being more thought of than the book, and we get books of framed pictures instead of pictured or decorated books. ”

“ He has been termed—and I, for one, should agree with this verdict—the finest miniature painter of the eighteenth century. The facility of his execution is simply marvellous; the sweetness and tenderness of expression that he gives to his faces, and the invariable refinement of his works, make them delightful. His manner is entirely peculiar to himself, body [Pg 340] colour being largely used. The work is broad in style and effect, and yet the features are often minute.
The career of this prolific artist was somewhat chequered ”

“ Several of his small circular oil paintings, almost the size of the true miniature, have been described in earlier chapters, [485] so that he was already skilled in working on a small scale, and within it of producing a life-like portrait, of the utmost delicacy and truth to nature, while his extraordinary 220skill and precision in rendering with most minute yet masterly touches of the brush all the details of the sitter’s costume, jewellery, and accessories, must have left him little to learn when he began to work in the new medium. ”