MINIATURE ART THROUGH THE PRISM OF TIME: EUROPEAN PORTRAIT COLLECTIONS IN MUSEUMS

Abstract

Portrait miniatures are an important part of many museum collections and exhibition expositions of museums of the world and their real decoration. They are presented both as individual specimens and as complete collections, which were formed by collectors over the years and transferred to museum funds and demonstrated during exhibitions for a wide range of visitors. The study of portrait miniatures through the prism of the biographies of artists, customers, and the historical and cultural context is important for understanding the specifics of the development of both European art of the 16th and 19th centuries, as well as social, dynastic, political, family relationships and relationships, primarily monarchical dynasties and aristocratic famous The technique of making portrait miniatures, materials and decoration and inlay, is an informative source for studying the development of technologies for processing materials, making paints, the development of natural sciences, and also allows you to trace ideological, aesthetic, ideological, religious and other influences on the evolution of art. The article selectively focuses on the work of the American-English artist, representative of neoclassicism, John Singleton Copley; to the representative of the Northern Renaissance, the French artist Francois Clouet; of the Flemish Renaissance miniaturist Levina Teerlinck; German Renaissance artist Hans Holbein the Younger. This choice of artists is due to the desire to demonstrate the versatility of portrait miniatures, as well as to describe the specifics of artistic life through the prism of the biographies of selected representatives of the artistic environment. Aspects of everyday people depicted in miniature are also dotted, which allows, with a comprehensive approach, to form an idea of the peculiarities of the historical and cultural development of Europe during the outlined period. Collections of portrait miniatures in museums around the world, thanks to virtual technologies, have become available to a wide audience of connoisseurs and those who want to get to know this type of visual art.