By Ena Mulavdic
Miniature art has a long history that dates back to prehistoric times. It arises from carved gemstones and has an exceedingly rich history, as it was used for numerous purposes, in various historic epochs, on different parts of the globe. Therefore, alongside the history of painting, the history of miniature painting exists in the same abundance of beauty, meaningful symbolism and extraordinarily executed artworks, regarding the composition, colouring, motifs, symbolic meanings etc.
Miniature has, through decades, been considered as an outstanding art form. The amount of details, appropriate composition, often used vibrant and exquisite colours are the main characteristic of miniature paintings and therefore their value is indisputable in comparison with large-scale paintings. Concerning the small scale they are made in, one of the most distinguishing and marvelous features on miniatures is the meticulous brushwork, which contributes to their uniqueness. Techniques such as hatching, stippling or pointillism and numerous other petite details on miniatures, in most cases, could only be discovered by magnification.
Regarding the etymology of the word "miniature", its Latin ancestor concerned not size, but color. The word miniature derives from the Latin word "minium", which refers to the red lead used by medieval artists to decorate the initial letters in illuminated manuscripts (figure 1). Mentioned red pigment was known as "minium" and it was one of the earliest colours for decoration initial letters in illuminated manuscripts.
Figure 1. “Minium” or red lead as mineral and as pigment
This unique art form traces its origin back to the book paintings and illuminated manuscripts of the 7th century A.D. in India. An illuminated manuscript refers to a document where the text is decorated with miniature illustrations and/or borders. This approach is often seen in religion related books, as well as in nonreligious literature, proclamations, inventories, deeds, laws, enrolled bills etc. Palm leaf was most commonly used as a canvas, where Buddhist texts and scriptures were written along. As these paintings were done on palm leaves, they had to be miniature in nature because of space constraints. This form of miniature painting is called Pala art (figure 2) and is well known and distinct by graceful lines and soft colours.
Figure 2. A Buddhist divinity, painting on palm leaf, Pala period, c. 12th century; in a private collection.
The Islamic world is also famous for cherishing the art of miniature. Miniature painting art was appreciated all over the Middle East, Central Asia and Far Eastern regions. Persia, India, Ottoman Empire and other Far Eastern countries have been familiar with miniature paintings from before the year 1400, in the form of manuscript illumination.
The arrival of Persian influences, during the 15th century, has led to substituting the fragile palm leaf with paper. Scenes such as hunting and diverse facial forms became increasingly depicted on miniature paintings, alongside with the use of gold and aquamarine blue hues. Miniature art in India truly thrived under the Mughals (16th-18th century A.D.), defining a rich period in the history of Indian art. The Mughal style of painting was an amalgamation of religion, culture and tradition (figure 3).
Figure 3. Unknown artist, Prince With a Falcon, 1600-1605. Courtesy of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Persian miniatures, on the other hand, were strongly influenced by Chinese artisans. The fact that the paper itself reached Persia from China in 753 A.D. supports this claim. Moreover, the Mongolian rulers of Persia brought the cult of Chinese painting, as well as many Chinese artisans who migrated to then Persia. Persian miniatures were distinct because they were almost always accompanied with the literary plot. They served as a visual image of literary plot, making it easier to understand and to get a complete atmosphere suitable for enjoying both visual and literary elements of the artwork. It could be said that the Persian miniature is a visual poetry. One of the most notable examples of Persian miniatures is the epic poem "Shahnameh" by Ferdowsi (figure 4), that tells the history of Persia - from the creation of the world to the Arab conquests in the 7th century.
Figure 4. Qam - Persian miniature taken from Shahnameh by the great Iranian poet Ferdowsi, 1591.
The other important reason for the flourishing of miniature art in Persia, especially during the Islamic era was regarding the Islamic aniconism. However, representations of prophet Muhammad, in some cases, with his face concealed (figure 5) and other religious figures are found in some manuscripts from lands to the east of Anatolia, such as Persia and India. These pictures were meant to illustrate the story and not to infringe on the Islamic prohibition of idolatry. The Persian miniature was the dominant influence on the other Islamic miniature, principally the Ottoman miniature in Turkey and the Mughal miniature in the Indian sub-continent. Painters such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse were significantly inspired by Iranian miniature art, which affected their approach to art, as well.
Figure 5. An illustrated folio from a Qajar manuscript: The prophet Muhammad, Qajar Iran, 19th century
Illuminated manuscripts were highly valued throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. At the time when the printing press was invented, around 1440, the printed books became major competitors to illuminated manuscripts. This has led artists to produce separate miniature paintings for patrons, which were usually objects of devotion or luxury goods for connoisseurs.
Regarding the European continent the most notable milestone was the occurrence of portrait miniatures, back in the 16th century. They derived from illuminated manuscripts, as portraits of rulers and Maecenas were painted on separated pieces of vellum and after, incorporated into books and official documents. French artist Jean Clouet (figure 6) was responsible for liberating these portraits from the books and presenting them as freestanding, framed works of art. This phenomenon was soon recognized in England, at that time ruled by Henry VIII. Commissioning portrait miniatures became very popular among aristocracy, members of the court, wealthy urban elite and even the monarch and his family members. These works were often turned into jewellery, using lockets, frames or boxes, which were to be either worn or kept in private closets or cabinets, as a precious object. It is important to mention that in the 17th century one innovation changed the path of miniature portraits in relation to jewellery. Artist Jean Petitot introduced the technique of painting miniatures in enamel on a metal surface. By then, most of the early miniaturists painted in watercolour on vellum or paper.
Figure 6. Jean Clouet (c.1485-90?- 1540/41), François, Dauphin of France (1518-36), c.1526, watercolour on vellum on card, 6.2 cm. diam., Royal Collection Trust/ HM Elizabeth II 2017
While new miniaturists were emerging, many ties of the pictorial conventions of the previous generations were broken. New generation took inspiration from the general developments in large-scale oil painting, rather than looking out for inspiration in manuscript paintings. Over the time, miniature portraits were increasingly being incorporated in jewellery and enamelled. Being small and easily transportable, they were used much like photographs are today. A number of royal marriage negotiations only took place after cogitation of a miniature painting of the potential bride. Highly prized, miniatures were also frequently presented as tokens of friendship, loyalty and love.
In the 18th century one of the most important technical innovations in portrait miniature painting took place. Namely, by then vellum was most commonly used as a support for portrait miniatures and was replaced with ivory (figure 7). This shift is credited to Venetian painter Rosalba Carriera.
Figure 7. Eliza Izard (Mrs. Thomas Pinckney, Jr., 1784–1862), 1801, by Edward Greene Malbone, American, 1777–1807); Watercolour on ivory; 2 7/8 x 2 3/8 inches;
Regarding the materials used for illustrated manuscripts and miniatures, they were most commonly created on animal skin or vellum, whether it was sheep, goat or cow. The colours (figure 8) used in the paintings are derived from various natural sources like vegetables, indigo, precious stones, gold and silver. On the following link all the detail on how to make certain colours and its shades, as well as their significant symbolic meanings in miniatures is beautifully explained by Fatima Zahra Hassan: click here. Gouache and oil colours were often used on vellum. From the 17th century high-quality miniatures were executed in vitreous enamel on copper. By the end of the 18th century, it was most common to see the usage of watercolours on ivory.
Figure 8. Colour powder pigments for miniatures
Regarding our jewellery designs, one of our most favoured techniques is miniature painting (figure 9). Partially because of our (half) Iranian heritage and partially because miniatures could be described as visual stories, our jewellery is almost all the time enriched with this unique art form. Miniatures are the reason why most of the time people use the same syntagm when describing our jewellery - a jewellery that tells stories. Indeed, our intention is to use our jewellery as a medium to speak about the most important task (or mission) that we have while living on Earth - to get to know ourselves. As we learn about ourselves, we learn about the world we are living in and most importantly we become free, no matter the state of freedom we are living in the "real world". These topics we are trying to visualize using oil paints, mostly on enamelled metal (gold, silver or bronze), sometimes on paper and rarely on a wooden background. Miniatures are an integral part of our jewellery and could not be divided from it. We start to paint by mixing the colours to achieve the right colours. After the colour is added on the background, we use needles and toothpick-like "brushes" to subtract the excess colour and to achieve areas of fine lines and areas of solid colour. Also, some details are achieved with the pointillism technique. When the miniature is finished, a few days of drying the oil paint are needed, after which the miniature is covered with a thin layer of transparent enamel or, usually, 2mm thick faceted watch glass. Some of the time we do miniatures inside the gemstone, using either negative painting technique or classical painting approach.
Altogether, the field of miniature art, including illuminated manuscripts and jewelled miniatures is an exceedingly wide artistic, literary and scientific field, through which the history of humankind could be easily and interestingly told and visually explained.
Figure 9. Miniature oil paintings on ceramic by ELIRD, 2018
Disclaimer: ELIRD does not own any of these images, excluding eight (8) images on Figure 9. Please note that all images and copyrights belong to their original owners. no copyright infringement intended.