A miniature painting today is largely regarded as a detailed, very small painting. We're talking tiny, but exactly how tiny varies between miniature painting societies around the world. A rule many ascribe to is that to qualify as a miniature painting, the subject must be painted no more than one sixth of its actual size. So an adult head would be about 9". Some societies stipulate maximum sizes, for instance 5x7" or 10x10cm. The World Federation of Miniaturists has a list of size stipulations from various societies.
Originally the term applied to paintings done in watercolor on vellum, part of hand-made books. For a survey of the history of miniatures (in Britain), see the Victoria & Albert Museum website.
The origins of the term 'miniature' with regard to a painting have nothing to do with size. Rather it is said to comes from the terms 'minium' (used for the red lead paint used in illuminated manuscripts during the Renaissance) and 'miniare' (Latin for 'to color with red lead').
In the 1520s in Europe, miniature portraits started being used used as jewelry, in lockets and brooches, particularly in France and England. Miniatures were especially popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The invention of photography, which provided easy portraits, inevitably led to a decline in the popularity of miniatures and the number of artists specializing in miniatures.
This is not to say that it's an extinct art form; there are still artists today who specialize in painting miniatures as well as various miniature art societies, including the World Federation of Art Miniaturists and the Hilliard Society of Miniaturists in the UK.
More on Miniatures:
- Techniques and Materials used in Miniature, from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London
- Promininent Miniature Artists
