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A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache or watercolor. more...

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Portrait miniatures began to flourish in 16th-century Europe and the art was practiced during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was especially valuable in introducing people to each other over distances; a nobleman proposing the marriage of his daughter might send a courier with her portrait to visit potential suitors. Soldiers and sailors might carry miniatures of their loved ones while travelling, or a wife might keep one of her husband while he was away.

The first miniaturists used watercolor to paint on stretched vellum, but in the 18th century, miniatures were also painted on ivory and enamel. As small in size as 40 mm × 30 mm (1½ in × 1¼ in), portrait miniatures were often used as personal mementos or as jewelry or snuff box covers.

In the second half of the 19th century, the development of daguerreotypes and photographs contributed to the decline in popularity of the miniatures.

England, 16th and 17th centuries

The portrait miniature developed from the miniature of illuminated manuscripts, which had been superseded for the purposes of book illustration by printing techniques such as engraving.

The first portrait miniaturist about whom anything definite is known was Nicholas Hilliard (c. 1537–1619), whose work partakes of the characteristics of illuminated manuscripts. The colors are opaque; gold is used to heighten the effect; while the paintings are on card. They are often signed, and have frequently also a Latin motto upon them. Hilliard worked for a while in France, and he is probably identical with the painter alluded to in 1577 as Nicholas Belliart. Hilliard was succeeded by his son Lawrence Hillard (died 1640). His technique was similar to that of his father, but bolder, and his miniatures richer in color.

Isaac Oliver and his son Peter Oliver succeeded Hilliard. Isaac (c. 1560–1617) is said to have been the pupil of Hilliard and Federigo Zuccaro. Peter (1594–1647) was the pupil of Isaac. The two men were the earliest to give roundness and form to the faces they painted. They signed their best works in monogram, and painted not only very small miniatures, but larger ones measuring as much as 10 in × 9 in (250 mm × 230 mm). They copied for Charles I of England on a small scale many of his famous pictures by the old masters.

At about the same date Balthazar Gerbier, George Jamesone, Penelope Cleyn and her brothers, were workers in the art. John Hoskins (died 1664) was followed by a son of the same name, who was known to have been living in 1700, since a miniature signed by him and bearing that date is in the Pierpont Morgan collection, representing James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick.

Read more at Wikipedia.org