The miniature in history

Illuminated letter from the Winchester Bible.

he art of miniature painting is many hundreds of years old. The earliest examples in the Western world are to be found in the illuminated capital letters of ancient church manuscripts. Decorated often with pure gold leaf, these tiny pictures showed scenes of everyday mediaeval life, scenes from the Bible, or portraits of saints and angels.

After the invention of the printing press, the skill of the illuminators was turned to the painting of exquisite miniature portraits for rich merchants and royalty. These jewel-like works of art were small enough to be held in the palm of the hand and were carried much as we carry family photos today.

With the introduction of photography in the middle of the 19^th century, the art of the miniature was in danger of being lost. However, the 20^th century has seen a tremendous increase in interest. Today there are many fine miniature painters (and, no, we are not all vertically challenged) covering all subjects under the sun.

Miniatures are still very reasonably priced, and a top quality miniature will sell for between £200 and £5000.

For further information see Wes Siegrist's excellent site