What is a Miniature?

Nowadays, the term ‘miniature’ is commonly used to describe a variety of items that represent in a small format something that is significantly larger. In the past, miniatures were small paintings that were completed with a high level of precision, rendering even the finest details.

The term does not stem from the Latin word ‘minimum’ (smallest), as one might be tempted to think, but instead derives from ‘minium’, the Latin word for red lead which is orange-red in colour. In the Middle Ages, the initial letters of manuscripts were often decorated with red lead pigment. The painters who decorated such initials were called miniators or illuminators, and the act of painting itself was called miniating.

As miniature painting evolved from illumination, the term ‘miniature’ was used to describe it even though red lead no longer played a role in the painting of miniatures.