This
brought them into the category of illuminations, for while miniatures
may be executed without the use of gold or silver, illuminations may
not. There are thousands of miniatures that are not illuminations.
At the period when illuminating was at its best the miniature, in its
modern sense of a little picture, was only just beginning to appear as a
noticeable feature, and the gold was as freely applied to it as to the
penmanship or the ornament. But such is not the case with miniature
painting generally.
Lala of Cyzicus, the lady artist just referred to, lived in the time of
Augustus C?sar. She has the honour of being the first miniaturist on
record, and is said to have produced excellent portraits "in little,"
especially those of ladies, on both vellum and ivory. Her own portrait,
representing her engaged in painting a statuette, is still to be seen
among the precious frescoes preserved in the museum at Naples.
The term "miniature," now applied to this class of work, has been
frequently explained. It is derived from the Latin word _minium_, or red
paint, two pigments being anciently known by this name--one the sulphide
of mercury, now known also as "vermilion," the other a lead oxide, now
called "red lead." It is the latter which is generally understood as the
_minium_ of the illuminators, though both were used in manuscript work.
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