page_title: Portrait miniature
section_title: Denmark
hierarchical_section_title: Portrait miniature / Peak period, by country / Denmark
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven (1803)
context_page_description: A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century elites, mainly in England and France, and spread across the rest of Europe from the middle of the 18th century, remaining highly popular until the development of daguerreotypes and photography in the mid-19th century. They were usually intimate gifts given within the family, or by hopeful males in courtship, but some rulers, such as James I of England, gave large numbers as diplomatic or political gifts. They were especially likely to be painted when a family member was going to be absent for significant periods, whether a husband or son going to war or emigrating, or a daughter getting married.
  The first miniaturists used watercolour to paint on stretched vellum, or on playing cards trimmed to the shape required. During the second half of the 17th century, vitreous enamel painted on copper became increasingly popular, especially in France.
context_section_description: In Denmark, Cornelius Høyer specialized in miniature painting (often 40 mm × 30 mm or approximately 1-1.5 inches, or in many case, oval or round in shape) in the second half of the 18th century and was appointed Miniature Painter to the Danish Court in 1769. He also worked at several other European courts and won a considerable international reputation. He was succeeded by Christian Horneman as Denmark's premier proponent of the special trade of miniature portraits. Among his most known works are a portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven from 1802 of which Beethoven was particularly fond—possibly because it presents him to a more handsome appearance than most other portraits.
caption: Christian Horneman's miniature portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven (1802).
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