El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-04-08

weeks ago sat for noted NINA
ture portrait painter of London,
who had just completed miniatures OF
the king and queen of England, and who
expects to make pictures of all the chief
rulers of the world, has attracted con-
siderable attention to this branch of
painting which 80 years ago threatened
10 become one Of the lost arts, owing
to the advent OF photography. Four
teen or Is years ago, however, there
was revival of this most delicate work
of the painter. and numerous societies
have been established for the promo
ton of public interest in 1t.
The art of miniature painting, paint
ing in little or Thinning as it is vari-
ously called. has been traced back to
ancient times, for the word miniature
Is not derived, as one would naturally
suppose, from the Latin -'minimus,"
meaning least, but comes from min
1um, meaning vermilliOn- When ini-
tials and borders for books and scrolls
were first illumined and decorated the
color was almost invariably red, and
from this color grew the use of the
word meaning the small decorative
work, which gradually expanded into
sketches and finally portraits.
The other term Thinning" comes from
the French enluminer and from the Lat
In illuminare, meaning to paint The
preserved in the library of the Vatican,
are the earliest examples of manuscripts
decorated with paintings They date
back to the fourth century.
Pictorial
The career of Giovanni CimaDue,
born In Florence in 1910. is usually tax
en- as the starting point for the new
birth of pictorial art, but he is chiefly
remembered through his famous pupil,
Giotto.
The manner in which Giotto was
discovered by his teacher has in it
much of the element of chance which
the medieval writer's attributed to the
intervention of diyine< power. The en-
pryo artist, when a lad of ten, was
tending his fathers sheep on the hill
side and was amusing himself sketch
ing on a smooth piece of rock with a
pointed stone. He was drawing the
sheep as they grazed when Cimabue
came up suddenly and looked over the |
boys shoulder. He Immediately saw the |
latent talent of the child and persuaded !
MIN TO leave the pasture and go 10 the |
city TO study. Giotto was an apt pupil |
and In the succeeding years he had a !
greater influence over Italian art thant
any other man of his generation He |
was great personal friend of Dante.
HOIbein's Great Work
ing as finished art is usually assigned |
to the period which marked the activ- |
tiles OF the great German artist Hans |
Ho1bein. who lived in the first half of !
the 18th century Holbein's name is |
familier to every reader of English his |
tory as the painter who executed a re-
markably flattering portrait of Anne Of |
Cleves, and when king Henry VIII saw
1t he at once selected its subject as his
bride-tO-be
When Anne arrived at the English
court the king found that the artist
had made beautiful but not a true
likeness of the lady The anger of the
amorous ruler knew no bounds Fol-l
lowing Holbein came a long list of dis
ungulshed miniature painters. such
names as Richard COsWay, HilIiard. OIL
liver. Samuel Cooper. John Smart. En-
seiheart. EaZidge. Spencer and Hum
phrey being Especially. noteworthy.
originally miniatures were painted on
copper plates or on vellum, preferably
the latter, but RoSalba is supposed 70
nave been the first artist to employ
ivory, which has now become practical
~ the only material used, its soft tints
being admirably suited for the body
work OF a portrait, over which to use
transparent colors q
Enamel was formerly much used and
Is still, 10 some extent, but one of the
cnlef difficulties is that there must fol-
low process of burning in or firing"
the pigments and heat changes the col
ors so that If one wishes a brown Of
rect, Tor example, he must use an en-
tlrely different color and then allow II
TO be burned Many Of the best ar-l
lists claim that in this process of paint
ing away from nature much of the ac
curacy of tones is lost
Miniatures on Ivory.
The use of ivory, however. presents
many difficulties In the first place
the supply of elephants tusks is not
and in recent years the
price mas gone up considerably. There
is also a limit TO the size of real ivory
Tor the pieces must be cut with the
grain. AS tusks are hollow for about
half their length the miniature ivory
must De cut from the tips, which of
course limits the size of the thin sheets
A piece of ivory seven inches wide bv
tweiye or fourteen inches long has .
brought as much as S175
some clever manufacturers have en- !
1eavored to cut thin slices of ivory ,
from around the tusks. pairing il. so to !
speak, and then pressing out the
pieces into flat sheets, but these have
proved unsatisfactory, as they are ant !
70 curl up in damp atmosphere or over ;
heated rooms The problem of the size :
Oh sheets Of ivory has had much to do