The significance of size and scale in the appeal of the Tudor portrait miniature

This thesis is the first extended analysis of the effects and meanings of size and scale in the sixteenth-century portrait miniature. Although the term ‘miniature’ is anachronistic, this research suggests that portrait miniatures were seen as specially small in this period, and this smallness was a crucial aspect of the experience and portrayals they offered. This research also examines the relationship between the external size and the internal, pictorial scale of the Tudor portrait miniature. By using a corpus of miniatures from three London collections it has been possible to identify the most common features of sixteenth-century portrait miniatures, which serves to correct a scholarly tendency to focus on innovative and unusual examples. Careful analysis of this corpus has revealed the monumental character of these images, offering a more historicised account of their appeal, in contrast to modern appreciation of their delicate rendering of detail. The second chapter goes beyond the well-established descriptions of the portrait miniature as intimate and secretive by describing how miniaturisation also created a surprising, attractive and dynamic aesthetic experience. In addition, the size and scale of the Tudor portrait miniature is proposed as inherently meaningful, creating structural implications of perfection, timelessness and interiority. This allowed Tudor miniaturists to suggest the invisible characteristics of their sitters, without resorting to explicit settings and symbolism. The thesis concludes by suggesting that miniaturisation itself may have been of interest to Tudor viewers, in light of contemporary interest in the theories of optics and the nature of representation, and the perennial appeal of miniature objects.