English Portrait Miniatures 1525-1810 Judith Dunn What is a miniature? “P ortrait miniature” evokes the image of a tiny, jewel-like painting, typically oval, of the subject’s head and shoulders on a vivid blue ground – but this is by no means the whole picture. One of the best known miniatures, Nicholas Hilliard’s Young Man Among Roses, is a full length portrait in a stylised natural setting – and, at 136x73mm (5-3/8x 2-7/8in), about twice the average size. “Miniature” did not originally mean tiny. In Latin, miniare means to color with red lead, as in the decorative initial letters found in early manuscripts. These were painted in watercolor on vellum and evolved into the detailed illuminations, often enriched with gilding, typical of sacred texts and books of hours. The technique is called limning, derived (like illumination) from luminare, to give light. Medieval patrons commissioned sacred texts, often to include their image in the decoration. As demand grew, workshops started up independently of monasteries, producing both devotional and secular images. The invention of printing put manuscripts into the luxury category, and encouraged the development of limning as separate from illumination. Limning is an art form in its own right, defined in England in at least three treatises in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, most notably in Nicholas Hilliard’s Art of Limning (c. 1598). Its evolution from manuscript illumination was perceived in England as the development of a distinct art form with its own technique. Elsewhere in Europe, it was a portraitist’s sideline – and a convenient way of sending a likeness. A larger full-length portrait, watercolor on vellum. Hilliard’s somewhat effete Young Man Among Roses c. 1587, 136x73mm (5-3/8x 2-7/8in) is the epitome of chivalrous devotion to the Queen. Courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum. Page 24 ■ Antiques Journal ■ November 2009