Miniature

[Guest Clive]

The word miniature is derived from the latin minium, the name given to a red lead pigment, lead tetroxide, first mined from the Minius River in Spain. This pigment was used to decorate pictures in medieval illuminated manuscripts, "the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment. The generally small scale of the medieval pictures has led secondly to an etymological confusion of the term with minuteness and to its application to small paintings especially portrait miniatures, which did however grow from the same tradition and at least initially use similar techniques."

 

[fkvesic]

More modern miniatures:

 

http://artnews.org/yoshihirosuda

 

He carves in wood and then paints the result.

[Janel]

While working at the bench, thus having time to think beyond the task or activity otherwise taking my attention, I have contemplated why the use of the word "miniature" bugs me when people try to describe the work that I do. To me, miniature relates a scaled down version of real things, and much of what I carve is just about life-sized, though perhaps a little smaller at times.

 

Word origination is always fascinating to learn about, in my case of the English language. Thank you, Clive, for posting this word that relates to some of the small-scale work we are involved with here. Red frames on any of the work we do yet?

 

Janel

[fkvesic]

Interesting comment, Janel. I don't make a distinction between the terms "small-scale" and "miniature", though I take your point about the life size of some of the animals and insects you carve. As long as the work's tiny, both are OK in my canon.

 

I was intrigued by Clive's info. about the origins of "miniature". Knowing something about medieval manuscripts, many of the very early ones were decorated with minium only. Once the grandees became patrons of the arts, introducing opportunities for costly materials like ground lapis lazuli and gold leaf/paint to be used in the paintings, minium was used both to outline the work, in some cases, before overpainting and was retained for decorating less costly hand-written tomes before the introduction of the printing press.

 

I hope people didn't lick their fingers to help turn pages!