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Miniaturising Portraits
Miniaturising Portraits
HENI Talks in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery discover portrait miniatures, one of the most intimate forms of art, designed to be ‘viewed ... in hand near unto the eye’. Nicholas Hilliard’s miniature painting of Sir Kenelm Digby, Naval commander, diplomat and scientist, is a great example of how these miniature works of art, were usually painted on the reverse of a playing card, often mounted within a jewelled case that could be worn, carried in a pocket or kept for private display within the home.
Time Period:
17th century
Themes:
I studied English at the University of Cambridge and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute. My studies were followed by a year at the Royal Collection, working on sixteenth and seventeenth-century portrait miniatures, and then three years at York City Art Gallery. I was appointed Curator of Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-century Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in 1995 and worked in that position until 2002, during which time I oversaw the installation of the new Tudor Gallery in the Gallery’s Ondaatje Wing, the refurbishment of the seventeenth-century galleries and of the displays at Montacute House in Somerset, and co-curated Painted Ladies: Women at the Court of Charles II. In 2002 I started work part-time as Seventeenth-century curator, and in 2012 I curated The Lost Prince: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart.
As Curator of Seventeenth-century Portraits at The National Portrait Gallery, I am responsible for the acquisition, display and interpretation of portraits dating from this period. In addition my role involves providing advice to colleagues, members of the public and other institutions, and undertaking research both on the Gallery’s collection and on seventeenth-century British portraiture more generally. Current projects include work towards an exhibition on Elizabethan and Jacobean portrait miniatures, and a catalogue raisonné of the works of Sir Peter Lely with Diana Dethloff.
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09:19
The Portrait of Mai
HENI Talks in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, explores the importance of Sir Joshua Reynolds’ spectacular Portrait of Mai (Omai). Dr Lucy Pelzt, explains in detail, Sir Joshua Reynolds’ majestic painting which holds a pivotal place in global art history, depicting the first Polynesian to visit Britain, and is widely regarded as the finest portrait by one of Britain’s greatest artists.
04:09
Daguerreotype-mania
HENI Talks in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, examines and demonstrates the introduction of the daguerreotype from 1839 that marked a revolution in portrait making. Daguerreotype portraiture caught the public’s imagination, and the photographic studios where they were lucrative businesses and quickly sprang up around the world. This film explores work made by the two earliest photographic portrait studios in London, set up by Richard Beard and Antoine Claudet. They opened within months of each other in 1841, and are considered the birth of portrait photography in the United Kingdom.
04:31
Lord Byron's Decoupage Screen
HENI Talks in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, reflect on the invention of the cult of personality in the Romantic age through Byron’s Decoupage Screen. As a piece of furniture with a practical function, like a giant scrapbook, this six-foot high, four-panelled folding screen is elaborately decorated on each side with a cut and pasted mosaic of text and images. One side of the screen depicts a history of the English theatre in over one hundred and fifty mezzotints and line engravings of notable actors. The other side presents the world of boxing.
09:19
The Portrait of Mai
HENI Talks in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, explores the importance of Sir Joshua Reynolds’ spectacular Portrait of Mai (Omai). Dr Lucy Pelzt, explains in detail, Sir Joshua Reynolds’ majestic painting which holds a pivotal place in global art history, depicting the first Polynesian to visit Britain, and is widely regarded as the finest portrait by one of Britain’s greatest artists.
04:09
Daguerreotype-mania
HENI Talks in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, examines and demonstrates the introduction of the daguerreotype from 1839 that marked a revolution in portrait making. Daguerreotype portraiture caught the public’s imagination, and the photographic studios where they were lucrative businesses and quickly sprang up around the world. This film explores work made by the two earliest photographic portrait studios in London, set up by Richard Beard and Antoine Claudet. They opened within months of each other in 1841, and are considered the birth of portrait photography in the United Kingdom.
04:31
Lord Byron's Decoupage Screen
HENI Talks in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, reflect on the invention of the cult of personality in the Romantic age through Byron’s Decoupage Screen. As a piece of furniture with a practical function, like a giant scrapbook, this six-foot high, four-panelled folding screen is elaborately decorated on each side with a cut and pasted mosaic of text and images. One side of the screen depicts a history of the English theatre in over one hundred and fifty mezzotints and line engravings of notable actors. The other side presents the world of boxing.
6:10
A Female Gaze
HENI Talks in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, explores the complexities behind female self-portraiture, showing stunning examples by artist Issy Wood. Three striking works by the London based artist Issy Wood, unpacks the bold new ways of creating self portraits. Working with found images and combining different styles and techniques, her work offers new ways of understanding the self and perceptions of women in the 21st Century.