New Exhibit in Special Collections through August 28 -- Portable Likeness: Selected Portrait Miniatures and their Literary Context
A new exhibit in Jackson Library's Hodges Reading Room, Portable Likeness: Selected Portrait Miniatures and their Literary Context, explores the role played by portrait miniatures both in and out of the book arts. The art of miniature portraits has several early forms: Roman coins, Renaissance commemorative medals, and images within medieval manuscripts. It is this last form that is the connection in this exhibit. Medieval religious texts, such as a Book of Hours, offered an opportunity to record a patron and a patron’s family members in the portraiture found in the illustrations. By 1460, the hand-written books were competing with the printed books. The ability to include personalized portraits within the book added to both the desirability and value of the manuscript works. However, during the sixteenth century fashion shifted to the less expensive and more accessible printed works. Portrait artists shifted also, offering their services to wealthy patrons. Most portraits were ...