The Starr Miniature Collection: Individual Representations June 24, 2012

Formal portraits have been commissioned from artists for centuries, allowing intimate images of loved ones to be kept close. Small-scale paintings in the form of miniatures not only depict the sitters as attractive and well-dressed, but also show the most current fashions in hairstyles and clothing. Men wear their best jackets, waistcoats and neck cloths, while women display their finest dresses and latest hairstyles. Portrait miniatures, like contemporary prints and paintings, document changes in male and female fashion.