the miniaturist. Books of all kinds were illustrated, and sacred
books, Bibles and Psalters and liturgical books, were no longer
the chief, if not the only, MSS. which were illuminated. And yet
there was one class of MSS. which came into the greatest prominence
and which was at the same time liturgical. This was the
Horae, or Hours of the Virgin, &c., devotional books for individual
use, which were multiplied in vast numbers and contained
some of the finest work of the miniaturists. The decoration
of these little volumes escaped in great measure from the conventional
restraints which their religious character might have
imposed. Furthermore, the demand for illuminated MSS.
had by this time established a regular trade; and their production
was not confined, as formerly, to the cloister with its narrow
and limited views.
Early in the century the old conventional treatment of landscape still held its own; nor did the diapered and gilded background pass out of use. Indeed, in some of the finest French specimens of the time the diapered patterns are more brilliant than ever. But natural scenery in the second quarter of the century asserts itself more decidedly, although with faults in perspective. It was not until another generation had arisen that there was a true appreciation of the horizon and of atmospheric effect.
The miniatures of the French and Flemish schools run fairly parallel for a time, but after the middle of the century national characteristics become more marked and divergent. The French miniature began to deteriorate, though some very fine examples were produced by the more gifted artists of the school. The figure-drawing was more careless, and the painting tended to hardness without depth, which the artist endeavoured to relieve by an excess of gilt shading. The close of the century brought with it the end of the French miniature; for the extravagant productions of the 16th century cannot be counted as worthy of consideration.
The French miniature went down before the Flemish school, which in the latter part of the 15th century attained to its highest excellence. The Flemish miniature affected extreme softness and depth of colour; also an ever-increasing carefulness in the treatment of details, of the draperies, of the expression of the features: the Flemish type of the Virgin’s face, for example, with its full, high forehead, can never be mistaken. In the best Flemish miniatures of the period the artist succeeds in presenting a wonderful softness and glow of colour; nor did the high standard cease with the 15th century, for many excellent specimens still remain to attest the favour in which it was held for a few decades longer.
In the foregoing remarks what has been said in regard to the careful treatment of details applies still more to the miniatures executed in grisaille, in which the absence of colour invited an even stronger accentuation of that treatment. This is perhaps most observable in the grisaille miniatures of northern Flanders, which often suggest, particularly in the strong angular lines of the draperies, a connexion with the art of the wood-engraver.
The Flemish miniature did not, however, hold the favour of western Europe without a rival. That rival had arisen in the south, and had come to perfection concurrently with the miniature of the Low Countries in the 15th century. This was the Italian miniature; and the history of its development now claims a brief notice. We return to the 13th century, where we suspended examination of the work of the school of the miniature painters of Italy; but we are not in a position, from lack of material, to follow so closely the development of the Italian miniature. Yet there is enough to show that it passed through the same stages as the miniatures of England and France and the Low Countries. Intercommunication between the countries of Europe was too well established for the case to be otherwise. In Italian MSS. of the normal type the influence of Byzantine art is very manifest during the 13th and 14th centuries. The old system of painting the flesh tints upon olive green or some similar pigment, which is left exposed on the lines of the features, thus obtaining a swarthy complexion, continued to be practised in a more or less modified form into the 15th century. As a rule, the pigments used are more opaque than 'those employed in the northern schools; and the artist trusted more to colour alone to obtain the desired effect than to the mixture of colour and gold which gave such brilliant results in the diapered patterns of France. The vivid scarlet of the Italian miniaturists is peculiarly their own. The figure-drawing does not bear comparison with the contemporary art of English and French MSS., the human form being often stunted and thick-set. In general, the Italian miniature, before its great expansion in the 14th century, is far behind the miniatures of the north. But with the 15th century, under the influence of the Renaissance, it advanced into the front rank and rivalled the best work of the Flemish school. The use of thicker pigments enabled the miniaturist to obtain the hard and polished surface so characteristic of his work, and to maintain sharpness of outline, without losing the depth and richness of colour which compare with the same qualities in the Flemish school.
The Italian style was followed in the MSS. of Provence in the 14th and 15th centuries. It had its effect, too, on the school of northern France, by which it was also influenced in turn. In the MSS. of southern Germany it is also in evidence. But the principles which have been reviewed as guiding the development of the miniature in the more important schools apply equally to all. Like the miniature of the Flemish school, the Italian miniature was still worked to some extent with success, under special patronage, even in the 16th century; but with the rapid displacement of the manuscript by the printed book the miniaturist’s occupation was brought to a close.
For Authorities see under Illuminated MSS. (E. M. T.)
2. Miniatures as separate Small Pictures.—In Europe the later development of the miniature, applied almost exclusively to portraits, is to a large extent English, and the greater number of the chief masters in the art have been Englishmen or have lived in England. Several great portrait painters are said to have worked occasionally in miniature, and there are paintings, small in size attributed with good reason to Holbein, Antonio Moro, John Shute, Cleef, Stretes, Teerlinck, Zucchero, John and T. Betts, and with less probability even to Van Dyck. There is a fine signed work by Shute (see Lomazzo’s Trattato dell’ arte della pittura, trans. Heydock, 1598) in the Pierpont Morgan collection; examples by Betts at Montagu House and Madresfield Court, and portraits, by Lavina Teerlinck in the collections of Mr George Salting and Mr J. Pierpont Morgan.
The first portrait miniaturist about whom anything definite is known was Nicholas Hilliard (c. 1547–1619), whose work partakes of the characteristics of illuminated manuscripts. The colours 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. It has recently been proved that Hilliard worked for a while in France, and he is probably identical with the painter alluded to in 1577 as “Nicholas Belliart.” Nicholas Hilliard was succeeded by his son Lawrence (d. 1640), some works by whom are in the Pierpont Morgan and Madresfield Court collections. His technique was similar to that of his father, but bolder, and his miniatures richer in colour. Isaac and Peter Oliver succeeded Hilliard. Isaac (c. 1567–1617) is said to have been the pupil of Hilliard and Zucchero. 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. by 9 in. They copied for Charles I. on a small scale many of his famous pictures by the old masters. Several of these copies are at Windsor and at Montagu House. At about the same date Gerbier, Poelemberg, Jamesone, Penelope Cleyn and her brothers, were workers in the art. John Hoskins (d. 1664) was the master of Samuel Cooper, the greatest English miniaturist. The work of Cooper can best be studied in the collection at Ham House. He 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.
