The history of the portrait miniature in Europe is one of rich cross-cultural exchange, with many artists of varied origins influencing the art form’s development in England and abroad. Some of the earliest portrait miniatures were painted by the Clouet family in France with watercolor: A sheer water-soluble paint prized for its luminosity, applied in a wash to light-colored surfaces such as vellum, ivory, or paper. Pigments are usually mixed with water and a binder such as gum arabic to prepare the watercolor for use. See also gum arabic. on vellum: A fine parchment made of calfskin. A thin sheet of vellum was typically mounted with paste on a playing card or similar card support. See also table-book leaf.. By the seventeenth century, miniatures proliferated in continental Europe.
Artists trained by French enameller Jean Toutin (1578–1644) brought enamel: Enamel miniatures originated in France before their introduction to the English court by enamellist Jean Petitot. Enamel was prized for its gloss and brilliant coloring—resembling the sheen and saturation of oil paintings—and its hardiness in contrast to the delicacy of light sensitive, water soluble miniatures painted with watercolor. Enamel miniatures were made by applying individual layers of vitreous pigment, essentially powdered glass, to a metal support, often copper but sometimes gold or silver. Each color required a separate firing in the kiln, beginning with the color that required the highest temperature; the more colors, the greater risk that the miniature would be damaged by the process. The technique was difficult to master, even by skilled practitioners, leading to its increased cost in contrast with watercolor miniatures. to the courts of Europe, spurred by their dissemination as ideal diplomatic gifts due to their compactness, durability, and jewel-like qualities. In Northern Europe, a taste for miniatures painted with oil on metal supports emerged from the popularity of small devotional works, but the medium did not have the widespread international appeal of enamel or watercolor.
In the early eighteenth century, Venetian pastellist Rosalba Carriera (1673–1757) transformed the portrait miniature by painting delicate watercolors on the lids of ivory: The hard white substance originating from elephant, walrus, or narwhal tusks, often used as the support for portrait miniatures. snuffboxes. Her preference for gouache: Watercolor with added white pigment to increase the opacity of the colors., an opaque watercolor that resembles pastel, was highly influential among continental artists. The miniature thrived in France in particular, driven by aristocratic tastes for portraiture and all things tiny and exquisite—but by the 1840s, the miniature met its demise with the invention of photography.
doi: 10.37764/8322.8.300