Portrait Miniatures

Cradled in the palm of a hand or worn close to the heart, portrait
miniatures functioned as intimate tokens of love, loyalty, or memorial.
Though tiny, these portraits capture remarkable details of human expression and lavish costume, all
executed by artists who sometimes used a single hair as a brush. The New Orleans Museum of Art's Latter-Schlesinger Collection has more than 250 miniatures dating from the
sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. The collection was given to the museum in 1974 by
Shirley Latter Kaufmann in honor of her parents, the collectors Harry and Anna Latter of New Orleans.

This gallery of highlighted works from NOMA's collection focuses on masterful British examples by the major artists working in portrait miniatures.

Worn or carried closely to the body, portrait miniatures functioned differently than traditional painting. Not meant for public consumption, miniatures were intimate tokens representing personal loyalty and love.

Ulrich von Hutten, c. 1520

This miniature portrait of German scholar Ulrich von Hutten is the earliest in NOMA’s collection, dating to the early 1500s.

Evolving from illustrated religious texts (illuminated manuscripts), portrait miniatures in this era served as essential communication and political tools in European royal courts.

Though the artist of this work is unknown, it is similar to work by Hans Holbein the Younger.

Portrait of an Elizabethan Court Lady, c. 1590

Nicholas Hilliard was the first notable English portrait miniature artist, and is responsible for some of the greatest artworks produced in the British Isles.

Hilliard was appointed official portrait painter to Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603). The politically fraught Elizabethan years saw the Queen’s wealthy subjects wearing miniatures of her image as a sign of loyalty.

Nicholas Hilliard trained as a goldsmith and developed special metallic techniques for painting elaborate court jewels like the magnificent necklaces worn by this Elizabethan Court Lady.

James I of England, 1609–1614

At the death of Queen Elizabeth I, her Scottish cousin ascended to the English throne as James I (1566–1625). This smooth transition of power in 1603 united England, Scotland, and Ireland for the first time.

King James retained Elizabeth’s court painter, Nicholas Hilliard, and commissioned numerous portraits of his wife, Queen Anne of Denmark, and their royal children.

James I saw the power of image for political purposes, using miniatures as gifts during peace negotiations with Spain in 1604, and as a tool for the strategic marriage of his daughter, Princess Elizabeth (future Queen of Bohemia.)

Elizabeth, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia, c. 1630

This miniature depicts King James I’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth Stuart (1596–1662), remembered as the English princess forced into ruinous exile.

Here the middle-aged Elizabeth wears a formal ruff collar and ornate jewelry.

Elizabeth married Frederick V of The Palatinate (in today’s Germany) in 1613. The couple accepted the fraught throne of Bohemia, but were soon ousted in the Thirty Years War. Exiled to The Hague, she was known as the “Winter Queen” for the single season of her reign.

Sir Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford, c. 1640

Thomas Wentworth served as advisor to King Charles I (1600–1649) and a key figure leading up to the English Civil War. Wentworth worked to consolidate royal authority against Parliament, and for this was executed in 1641.

This elegantly framed portrait shows the continuation of Elizabethan-era (16th century) styles into the 17th century. Though these conventions would soon evolve, here Hoskins places his precisely-drawn subject in front of a solid background and a jewel-like case.

Frances Russell, née Cromwell, 1654

Cooper is regarded as the top miniaturist of the seventeenth century. His portrait of Frances, Oliver Cromwell’s daughter, shows a dramatic shift in artistic and court dress from the Elizabethan era (1500s).

Gone is the Elizabethan stiff collar and ornate jewelry. Instead, Frances shows the influence of King Charles I’s wife, Henrietta Maria of France, with her single strand of pearls, exposed skin, and cascading hair ringlets.

In place of stiff curtains or solid background, Samuel Cooper paints Frances with a reference to the landscape. This reflects the new style of naturalism ushered in with the 1632 arrival of the new court painter, Anthony van Dyck.

Portrait of a Woman in a Blue Dress, c. 1725

Shortly after 1700, the preferred medium for portrait miniatures changed from watercolor on card or vellum (animal skin) to slices of ivory, like on this miniature of an unknown woman wearing a blue dress.

Ivory offered luminosity behind translucent watercolors, but had an oily and non-absorbent surface, so it took decades for artists to refine miniature painting techniques.

Bernard Lens III was the first British artist to begin working on ivory. He adopted a stippling technique to help the watercolor pool and adhere to the unforgiving slippery surface.

The thinly painted face and skin of this unknown woman shows his stippling (dots) technique, letting the luminous ivory shine through.

Thicker, opaque paint covers the clothing, hair, and background. The artist's initials are visible in gold.

Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough, c. 1795

Said to be delicate and lovely, history tells that Henrietta Ponsonby (1761–1821) lived a life of lust, excitement, and personal intrigue.

Younger sister to the infamous Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, Henrietta’s life similarly included a series of extramarital lovers, excessive gambling, and controversial political involvement.

The Countess is captured here on ivory by woman artist, Anne Mee.

Mee used her immense talent to turn the genteel art of miniature painting into a means of financial support for her widowed mother and siblings.

William Pitt the Younger, English Prime Minister, c. 1785

Richard Cosway was the most fashionable miniature painter in England from the 1780s into the early 1800s.

The artists was at the center of London's fashionable society, entertaining lavishly including with the Prince of Wales. His wife was the Italian-born painter Maria Hadfield Cosway, a close friend of Thomas Jefferson.

Cosway guaranteed his successful career by flattering his subjects, and through his innovative technique of using transparent pigments so the natural luminosity of ivory shines through.

Here, Cosway depicts William Pitt the Younger, a prominent British statesman who became the youngest UK Prime Minister in 1783, at the age of 24.

Mrs. Edward Brown, 1785

Horace Hone learned the art of miniatures in London from his father. At the invitation of a patron, he went to Ireland in 1782, and soon attracted a large and fashionable clientele in Dublin.

Hone frequently situated Dublin’s high-society women against this signature olive-brown background. The date 1785 is visible here.

Hone ornamented women's hair and dress with strands of pearls.

All his female sitters were painted with distinctively large, dark eyes and sweet rosy cheeks.

Dodda Vira Raja, c. 1787

This English-style miniature was made in India, picturing Dodda Vira Raja (or, Vira Rajendra Wodeyar), the Ruler of Coorg in Southwest India from 1780 to 1809.

Artist Ozias Humphry traveled to India from 1785 to 1787, confident that the community of British expatriates and wealthy Indian princes would provide him with fame and fortune.

Humphrey’s venture abroad turned disastrous when many of his clients refused to pay their bills, leading the artist back to England in a financial crisis.

Captain George K. H. Coussmaker, c. 1790

In this miniature, Samuel Shelley captures a detail from a well-known full portrait by one of the great eighteenth-century artists, Sir Joshua Reynolds.

This detail emphasizes the steely face...

...and formal military uniform of the young Captain Coussmaker.

This masterpiece by Sir Joshua Reynolds required twenty-one modeling appointments for Coussmaker—and at least two more for the horse—in the winter of 1782.