Contributed By: Karen Wiggill
Perhaps your first thoughts are miniature doll houses and furniture, or even a small painting, but it’s none of these.
Miniature Art is a fine art form, including paintings, engravings and sculpture. Paintings are executed with extreme detail, typically showing all the tiny brushstrokes or pencil marks, but exhibits all the same elements of a larger painting, such as strong composition, tonal value and exquisite colour.
In terms of composition, for a painting or drawing to be regarded as a miniature, the actual subject cannot be rendered larger than 1/6 of its natural size. Therefore, a human head cannot be larger than 38mm, which is 1/6 of the actual size of a human head. Where this is not possible, with subjects that are already very small, such as certain insects or flowers, the “spirit of Miniaturism” must prevail.
This quotation from Paul Kernick, who wrote in the Hilliard newsletter on “Modern Miniatures”, perfectly sums up a miniature painting: “It would seem therefore that the fundamental factor which links all miniature paintings is the need for ABSOLUTE attention to detail and sharpness of line in very small areas of a painting which is limited in size. It must stand close inspection and ideally the skill of the artist must be breath-taking.”
There are various societies for miniature art, and annual exhibitions are held every year showcasing miniature paintings and sculptures from artists all over the world. Each society has its own rules and guidelines, with a maximum image and frame size, but in summary, a miniature painting is an extremely detailed painting that can fit in the palm of your hand.
According to lathmstudios.com: “Because of their origins as illuminations, they are also painted to have as smooth of a surface as possible. A miniature usually takes as long or longer to produce as a large piece of art. A fine miniature can be magnified many times and it will still hold together as a fine work of art of much greater size. Most artists can work large, but few have the skill and discipline to work miniature.”
It is interesting to note that the actual word miniature does not refer to size but comes from the terms ‘minium’ which was the red lead paint used in illuminated manuscripts and ‘miniare’, the Latin word ‘to colour with red lead’.
The History behind Miniature Art
Miniature Art was popular from the 16th and 17th Century, but it goes even further back to the 200 – 400’s, where Lala of Cyzicus specialised in portraits etched into ivory. The illuminated manuscripts which were beautifully illustrated by monks’ date back to the 800’s with the most famous of these being the Celtic Book of Kells and England’s Lindisfarne Gospels. Miniature illustrations also served an important function during this time, as they conveyed the stories of that period for those who could not read.
In the 1500’s miniatures started to appear as paintings in their own right and not part of manuscripts. Jean Clouet is acknowledged to have completed the first independent portrait. His German contemporaries and successors, Luke Hornebolte and Hans Holbein were regarded as the first miniature painters in England. Henry VIII was a keen patron of miniature art and subsequently Holbein became the official court painter. He is also regarded as the first master of miniature painting. It is believed that Henry VIII commissioned him to paint a portrait of a potential bride, so that he would know what she looked like. It was also during this time that miniature art was known as limning and that the actual word miniature was used in the English language around 1586.
As a result of Holbein’s influence, a long tradition of miniature painting in England was established. These portraits were finely executed and were being painted on vellum, copper and ivory and could be carried in a locket or pocket. Nicholas Hilliard, who was one of Holbein’s pupils became the first English master of miniature painting. He adopted the oval form, which had recently become fashionable on the continent of Europe in preference to the circular form and which remained the most popular shape until the early 19th century. Queen Elizabeth I also commissioned miniatures of herself, and others and Hilliard served as her miniature painter for more than 30 years. His apprentice, Isaac Oliver, was a more technically refined artist and by introducing shade into his work, achieved a more natural feel. Samuel Cooper earned the reputation as the greatest English miniature artist, due to his “presentation of character and tight, effective brushwork” and it was claimed that his work was “life-sized work in little”. Before photography, portrait miniature artists were commissioned to paint small portraits that would be like wallet-sized photographs that we use today.
The 1700’s saw the height of popularity, while during the 1800’s the advent of photography saw the drastic decline for miniature artists. Some miniature artists switched to photography to maintain their livelihoods, but fortunately during the end of the nineteenth century there was a revival with the formation of The Society of Miniaturists in England. Out of this developed the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers (RMS), and in turn the American Societies (The Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Society (MPSGS) in Washington DC and The Miniature Art Society of Florida (MASF), which has the largest membership of about 500 members. Fortunately, as a result, miniature art flourishes today.
Today there are many collectors and buyers of miniature art.
Karyn Wiggill is the Secretary of the Miniature Art Society of South Africa and has won numerous accolades across the globe with her miniature work.
For more information, and to join MASSA, visit their website:
