miniature

enUK

min·i·a·ture

M0313600 (mĭn′ē-ə-cho͝or′, -chər, mĭn′ə-)n.1. a. A copy or model that represents or reproduces something in a greatly reduced size.b. Something small of its class.2. a. A small painting executed with great detail, often on a surface such as ivory or vellum.b. A small portrait, picture, or decorative letter on an illuminated manuscript.c. The art of painting miniatures.adj. Greatly reduced in size or scale. See Synonyms at small.

[Italian miniatura, illumination of manuscripts, small painting, from miniare, to illuminate, from Latin miniāre, to color red, from minium, cinnabar, red lead (often used to adulterate cinnabar), probably of pre-Roman Iberian origin (since the Romans obtained most of their cinnabar from Spain); akin to Minius, ancient Roman name of the Miño (Minho) River of Galicia and northern Portugal.]

min′i·a·tur′ist n.

miniature

(ˈmɪnɪtʃə) n1. a model, copy, or similar representation on a very small scale2. anything that is very small of its kind3. (Art Terms) a very small painting, esp a portrait, showing fine detail on ivory or vellum4. a very small bottle of whisky or other spirits, which can hold 50 millilitres5. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) an illuminated letter or other decoration in a manuscript6. in miniature on a small scale: games are real life in miniature. adj7. greatly reduced in size8. on a small scale; minute[C16: from Italian, from Medieval Latin miniātūra, from miniāre to paint red, (in illuminating manuscripts); from minium]

min•i•a•ture

(ˈmɪn i ə tʃər, -ˌtʃʊər, ˈmɪn ə tʃər)

n. 1. a representation or image of something on a small or reduced scale. 2. something small of its class or kind. 3. a very small painting, esp. a portrait, on ivory, vellum, or the like. 4. the art of executing such a painting. 5. an illumination in an illuminated manuscript or book. adj. 6. on or represented on a small or reduced scale: a miniature poodle. Idioms: in miniature, of a reduced size; on a small scale: a terrarium resembling a jungle in miniature. [1580–90; < Italian miniatura miniature painting < Medieval Latin miniātūra=miniāt(us) illuminated + -ūra -ure]

miniature

A tiny painting (less than 6 in across), usually a portrait.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	miniature - painting or drawing included in a book (especially in illuminated medieval manuscripts)illuminationpainting, picture - graphic art consisting of an artistic composition made by applying paints to a surface; "a small painting by Picasso"; "he bought the painting as an investment"; "his pictures hang in the Louvre"Dark Ages, Middle Ages - the period of history between classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance
	2.	miniature - a copy that reproduces a person or thing in greatly reduced sizetoycopy - a thing made to be similar or identical to another thing; "she made a copy of the designer dress"; "the clone was a copy of its ancestor"
Adj.	1.	miniature - being on a very small scale; "a miniature camera"little, small - limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent; "a little dining room"; "a little house"; "a small car"; "a little (or small) group"

miniature

adjective small, little, minute, baby, reduced, tiny, pocket, toy, mini, wee, dwarf, scaled-down, diminutive, minuscule, midget, teeny-weeny, Lilliputian, teensy-weensy, pygmy or pigmy The farm has been selling miniature roses since 1979.
big, large, huge, great, giant, enormous, immense, enlarged, gigantic, oversize, ginormous (informal)

miniature

nounA small-scale representation of something:model.adjectiveExtremely small:diminutive, dwarf, Lilliputian, midget, minuscule, minute, pygmy, tiny, wee.Informal: peewee, pintsize, pintsized, teensy-weensy, teensy, teeny, teeny-weeny, weeny.

Translations

小型的微型复制品微型的微小模型缩影

miniature

(ˈminitʃə) adjective smaller than normal, often very small. a miniature radio.小型的 noun1. a very small painting of a person. 袖珍画像2. a copy or model of something, made on a small scale. 微型复制品，微小模型 miniaturize, miniaturise (ˈminiətʃəraiz) verb to make something in a (much) smaller size. 使小型化miniaturization, miniaturisation (ˌminətʃəraiˈzeiʃn) , ((American) ˌminiətʃuərəˈzeiʃn) noun小型化

miniature

→ 微型的zhCN, 缩影zhCN

Miniature

enUK

miniature

Art a very small painting, esp a portrait, showing fine detail on ivory or vellum

Miniature

a very small, finely executed work of art. The term “miniature” also refers to some literary and musical works. Among the various types of miniatures are independent paintings and graphics, including engravings. Portraits are common. Another type of miniature is painted in lacquer, oil, or tempera on the surface of a small, varnished artifact.

One of the most important types of miniature painting is illumination, which includes drawings or multicolored illustrations executed on manuscripts in lacquer, gouache, tempera, and other types of paints, as well as the representational and decorative elements in book design, such as initials and borders. Illumination was practiced in ancient Egypt. The version of the Book of the Dead that dates from the New Kingdom contains pen-and-ink drawings and two-dimensional paintings on papyrus in opaque paints. The late classical miniatures of the fourth through sixth centuries (gouache or pen-and-ink drawings on papyrus scrolls and parchment codices) are notable for the accuracy with which the figures and the light are captured (Homer’s Iliad c. 500, Ambrosiana Library, Milan).

In Byzantine art, especially in religious manuscripts, late classical methods of miniature painting were used until the tenth century (the Paris Psalter, tenth century, National Library, Paris). Conventionality, two-dimensionality, and expressive gestures prevailed in Byzantine miniature painting, although there are several examples of politically polemical scenes drawn from life (the Khludov Psalter, ninth century, State Historical Museum, Moscow).

There were many local schools of miniature painting in the West during the Middle Ages. During the Merovingian period (fifth through eighth centuries) a two-dimensional style developed, distinguished by unique ornamental designs of birds and fishes (the Gelasian Sacramentary, mid-eighth century, Vatican Library). Irish and Anglo-Saxon manuscripts of the seventh through ninth centuries were decorated with full-page miniatures in which expressive depictions of the Evangelists were enclosed in stylized decorative frames and the margins of the pages were completely covered with abstract, interlace designs imbued with life and energy (the Book of Durrow, seventh century, Trinity College, Dublin).

Like full-page miniature paintings, which imitated late classical models (the Ada Gospels, early ninth century, City Library, Trier), the manuscripts of the Carolingian Renaissance were decorated with dynamic, expressive pen-and-ink drawings (the Utrecht Psalter, ninth century, Library of the State University, Utrecht). At the end of the tenth century, miniature painting in the West began to show the influence of the Byzantine style. Its iconography was enriched by scenes from the Gospels and the lives of the saints, the artistic expression became more conventional, and the images of the saints became intensely expressive (the Bamberg Apocalypse, c. 1020, State Library, Bamberg).

The flat, disembodied figures of the Romanesque miniatures of the llt h and 12th centuries were integrated into clear-cut compositional schemes. At the same time, elements of folk art were introduced into miniature painting (St. Gregory the Great’s Moralia in Job, 1109–33; the Municipal Library, Dijon). Gothic miniatures of the 13th to 15th centuries sought to represent nature realistically. The illustrations complemented the text, providing a commentary on it, and the figures were more lifelike than the Romanesque. The landscape, the interior, and the architectural framework of the scenes were very important. Great miniaturists emerged, such as A. Beauneveu and Jacquemart de Hesdin, who worked in France. Characteristic of the work of the Limburg and van Eyck brothers were broad, incisive observation and the depiction of actual scenes (the Tres Riches Heures du Due de Berry, the Limburg brothers). In the second half of the 15th century, J. Fouquet and S. Marmion introduced elements of linear and aerial perspective into miniature painting, re-creating the rural and urban landscapes of France bathed in light and air (the Book of Hours of Etienne Chevalier, Fouquet, 1450–55, in various European museums).

Miniature painting in 11th-century ancient Rus’ imitated By zantine models (Ostromir’s Gospel, 1056–57, M. E. SaltykovShchedrin Public Library, Leningrad). In addition to full-page miniatures resembling contemporary frescoes and icons (the Khitrovo Gospel, late 14th-early 15th century, the Lenin Library, Moscow), animated, unconventional marginal drawings developed from the 12th to 15th centuries. The initials of the Novgorod manuscripts of the 12th through 15th centuries, for example, are characterized by an interlace design and both fantastic and realistic figures. At the end of the 15th century secular subjects (particularly historical ones) and themes drawn from everyday life were introduced into miniature painting (the Illustrated Codex of Chronicles, manuscript chronicles, 1540’s through 1560’s, various libraries in the USSR). A particularly bright, evocative kind of miniature painting originated in the Ukraine (the Peresopnytsi Gospel, 1556–61, the CPSU State Public Library of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev). Miniature painting of the 17th century abounds in historical subjects, portraits, and allegories (the Siisk Gospel, 1693, the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad). The Pomor’e manuscripts, which were created between the 17th and 19th centuries, are decorated with rich, lush, but somewhat crude baroque motifs (for example, the Gospel, 1678, the Armory at the Kremlin, Moscow).

Local schools of miniature painting emerged in medieval Armenia in the sixth and seventh centuries. Characteristic of the Armenian style are rich decorative and ornamental elements, a clearly defined composition, and intense colors. In addition to dynamic graphic miniatures associated with folk art, such as the Lazarus Gospel (887; the Matenadaran ancient manuscript depository, Yerevan), miniatures in a grand, monumental style lavishly decorated with gold were created during the ninth and tenth centuries (the Echmiadzin Gospel, 989; the Matenadaran, Yerevan). The most important of the 13th- and 14th-century schools is the Cilician. The miniatures by its foremost artist, Foros Roslin, who lived in the second half of the 13th century, are distinguished by psychological expressiveness, soft, accurate outlines, and richly developed ornamentation.

Georgian miniature painting of the ninth and tenth centuries, which followed local traditions, was outstanding for its linear qualities and bright colors (the Mtskheta Psalter, tenth century; the Institute of Manuscripts of the Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR). The Byzantine style of miniature painting adhered to the technique of multilayered painting and the use of gold (the Gelati Gospels, 11th century; Institute of Manuscripts of the Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR). Secular book illustration developed in the 17th century. A particularly fine example is S. Rustaveli’s The Hero in a Tiger’s Skin.

Medieval Arab miniature painting absorbed the styles of several schools: the Egyptian, which was stylistically linked with Coptic art; the Syrian, which was strongly influenced by the Byzantine; and the Iraqi, which created splendid scenes of court life as well as terse, precise illustrations for learned treatises, such as Dioscorides’ De materia medica (Pharmacology, 1222; in various museums throughout the world).

The Iranian, Afghan, Central Asian, and Azerbaijani styles of miniature painting, which reached their peak in the first half of the 15th century, were organically related to the overall artistic , design of the manuscript. Their decorative and figurative structures are distinguished by lavish designs, lyric landscapes, a fine linear rhythm, and elaborate color combinations (the Herat, Tabriz, and Isfahan schools, for example). In the 16th and 17th centuries portrait miniatures came into fashion in Iran and other countries. At the same time, medieval Indian miniature painters abandoned flat, stylized representation and a clear calligraphic line for an exact treatment of detail and a careful portrayal of the human face. However, they preserved the flat schematic character and decorative qualities of the traditional style. Heroic historical subjects were common (the Babur-nama, end of the 16th century; State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow). Among the newer genres were portraits and animal paintings.

Miniature painting was an art form in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, where drawings were done on palm leaves. The confident, bold, richly colored drawings of the Aztecs, Mixtecs, and the Maya are reminiscent of picture writing (the Mixtec Codex Borgia, 14th-16th centuries; Vatican Library).

Portrait miniatures are small paintings or engravings (1.5–20 cm) on snuffboxes, watches, rings, and medallions. They were executed in gouache or in watercolor on parchment, cardboard, paper, or ivory; in oil on metal; in ceramic paints on china; or in enamel. The portrait miniature, which developed as a separate genre during the Renaissance, was stylistically and technically related to book illumination (for example, the work of the 16th-century Italian artist G. Clovio) and to the general development of realistic art. Portrait miniatures created by H. Holbein the Younger in Germany and in England, where his pupils N. Hilliard and I. Oliver worked, were distinguished by accuracy and by documentary qualities, as well as by intense, lucid psychological insight. In 16th-century France outstanding portrait miniatures were created by Fouquet, as well as by L. Limosin, who specialized in enamels. In the 17th century the Swiss artist J. Petitot painted miniature enamel copies of oil portraits. S. Cooper’s miniature watercolor portraits of the leaders of the revolution in 17th-century England are known for their tremendous verve and their strong portrayal of self-reliant characters.

The portrait miniature reached its peak in the 18th century. The Italian woman artist R. Camera introduced the technique of painting in gouache on ivory against a colored background. Among the portrait miniaturists of the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th were J. B. Masse, J. H. Fragonard, J. B. J. Augustin, and J. B. Isabey (France); R. Cosway, J. Smart, and N. E. Plimer (Great Britain); and M. M. Daffinger and H. F. Fiiger (Austria).

In Russia the first accurate (that is, not overly flattering) portrait miniatures, most of which were enamels, were done in the 18th century (G. S. Musikiiskii, A. G. Ovsov, D. I. Evreinov, and P. G. Zharkov, who was the head of the class of miniature painting at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg from 1779). At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th subtle, soulful portraits were painted by G. I. Skorodumov, V. L. Borovikovskii, and A. Ritt. Other Russian artists who specialized in miniatures were N. I. Argunov, A. K. Golovachevskii, M. I. Terebenev, P. O. de Rossi, K. P. Briullov, O. A. Kiprenskii, and P. F. Sokolov. Portrait miniatures were superseded in the mid-19th century by daguerreotypes and photographs.

REFERENCES

Vrangel’, N. Miniatiura v Rossii. St. Petersburg, 1909.
Svirin, A. N. Miniatiura drevnei Armenii. Moscow-Leningrad, 1939.
Svirin, A. N. Drevnerusskaia miniatiura. Moscow, 1950.
Martin, F. R. The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India and Turkey … , vols. 1–2. London, 1912.
Lowe, E. A. Codices latini antiquiores, vols. 1–6. Oxford, 1934–53.
Weitzmann, K. Illustrations in Roll and Codex. Princeton, N. J., 1947.
Diringer, D. The Illuminated Book, Its History and Production. London, 1958.
Darmon, J. E. Dictionnaire des peintres miniaturistes. Paris [1920’s].

Miniature

(in Russian, miniatura), a genre of small-scale works in literature, the theater, the circus, and in variety shows. A miniature may be a short story; a short play; a vaudeville act; an intermezzo; a sketch; a scene containing dialogue, dance, or music; a variety act; or a circus clown act. The repertoire of special “miniature” theaters is based on this genre.

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REFERENCES

Miniature

miniature

Synonyms for miniature

adj small

Synonyms

Antonyms

Synonyms for miniature

noun a small-scale representation of something

Synonyms

adj extremely small

Synonyms

Synonyms for miniature

noun painting or drawing included in a book (especially in illuminated medieval manuscripts)

Synonyms

Related Words

noun a copy that reproduces a person or thing in greatly reduced size

Synonyms

Related Words

adj being on a very small scale

Related Words