THE MINIATURE IN HISTORY

The art of the miniature is many hundreds of years old. In the Western world the earliest examples can be found in the illuminated capital letters of church manuscripts. The letters were often decorated in pure gold leaf and around them were pictures of everyday life, or from the Bible.

Miniatures have a serious history throughout the world. They are often combined with poem or religious verse in countries such as Iran and India. There is also a long history in Russia.

Throughout history the portrait miniature became important as a record of loved ones and this is still what many people think of when miniature is mentioned. These tiny portraits, often oval in shape, could be of a face, or more peculiarly, an eye or mouth. They often contained a back panel which carried a lock of hair. They are very much part of the Romantic tradition.

Australia has a long history of the miniature from our earliest days and our libraries and State Galleries have fine collections.

There is a tremendous interest in the art form today throughout the world and it has blossomed to encompass many mediums and subjects.