Miniature Masterpieces

Hand-Painted Ladies

Ever since the first black and white photographs became available in the 1840s, there was demand to add colour to their wondrous ability to capture a scene in detail. Almost immediately, miniaturist painters, who had felt their livelihood was under threat by the new technology, found themselves with an alternative job – hand painting monochrome photographic prints. By the 1850s, artists were using watercolours and transparent dyes to enhance paper prints and bring their subjects to life.