#Vellum for pc skin#

Ivory remained the most common medium for portrait miniatures until its decline towards the end of the 19th century.Įnamel: In the 18th century enamel came to be seen as a more robust alternative to ivory. Although artists still needed to prepare ivory before paint could be applied to it, the preparation process was much less complex than that required for vellum.Īs ivory became more accessible and affordable, the practice of painting on ivory was adopted outside of Italy, with British artist Bernard Lens becoming the first recorded artist in England to produce ivory portrait miniatures. While decorating the interior of ivory snuff-boxes, the Italian artist Rosalba Carriera observed that because of its luminosity ivory was a better support than vellum for the depiction of flesh tones, which creates a more matt finish. Ivory: The early 18th century, which is widely considered the ‘Golden Age’ of portrait miniature painting, saw vellum replaced by ivory. By the turn of the 18th century, however, they were being created as works of art in their own right. Initially plumbago drawings were prepared as the basis of an engraving. Introduced to England by David Loggan (1634-1692) in 1658, this monochrome portrait was created using graphite on parchment or vellum. Plumbago: Towards the end of the 17th century a new form of miniature emerged - the plumbago. This early technique was adopted by painters and artists trained to illustrate hand-written books.

#Vellum for pc skin#

Vellum: Early miniatures were usually painted in watercolour on vellum - a type of primed, translucent calf skin - laid onto a piece of card, usually a playing card, with a starch paste. The growing appetite for larger portrait miniatures painted on ivory during the 19th century is reflected in works by Sir William Charles Ross and his contemporaries Robert Thorburn and Eduardo Moira, court painters to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Miniatures were particularly sought after by soldiers and sailors who wanted to leave their loved ones with a likeness to cherish in their absence. By the 18th century their popularity was widespread, with leading miniature painters establishing themselves among the wealthy elite in London, Bath and Dublin.

Portrait miniatures first appeared in European royal courts in the 16th century, and flourished during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The term ‘miniature’ only entered the vernacular in the 18th century. Throughout the 16th and the 17th centuries in Europe these works of art were referred to as ‘limnings’.

1490-1544) and Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) adopted the techniques employed in illuminated manuscripts to produce small, independent portraits on vellum laid onto a piece of card. Portrait miniatures appeared on illuminated manuscripts in the 15th century, and minium - or red lead - was used to colour the capital letters.Ī small group of artists including Lucas Horenbout (c. The term ‘miniature’ derives from the Italian miniatura, ‘manuscript illumination or small picture’, which in turn comes from the Latin miniare, ‘to paint red’. What is meant by the term ‘portrait miniature’?