SIR FELIX BRUNNER
GILBERT ADAMS FRPS
SUE IN FIRS
SPIKE MILLIGAN
ALWEN HARRIS
VINCE HILL
Miniature portrait painting is a unique art form with its own demanding techniques. Originally called
‘limnings’ this name survived well into the seventeenth century when the word ‘miniature’ replaced it. The
word is derived from ‘minium’, the Latin for red lead or vermillion. This was the pigment used to paint
initial letters on the illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. The word ‘miniare’ denotes the process,
not the object. Today the word miniature is used to describe any small painting or portrait.
