Portrait Miniatures

Taken from the medal cabinet of Hôtel Turgot, where they are closely guarded, about 65 portraits provide a fascinating overview of the wealth and diversity of this collection.

The collection was started by Frits Lugt (1884-1970) and has been augmented by successive directors of the Fondation Custodia. Today it numbers more than one hundred portraits created between the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries, before the medium was gradually supplanted by the arrival of photography. Reflecting the history of its development, the English, French, Dutch and Flemish schools predominate in the collection and thus constitute the bulk of the selection. The exhibition is organised chronologically and is intended to reveal to the public the special qualities of these precious miniatures, painted in gouache or oils, on ivory, vellum or copper. Works in enamel also have their place in the collection and are illustrated by the Self-Portrait by Jean Petitot, who perfected the technique of enamelling, producing work of exceptional refinement.

Portraits in miniature are often presented in the form of jewellery, on boxes or are mounted on personal belongings, like the Portrait of an Unknown Man by Nicolas Jacques, which is displayed on a red morocco wallet designed to hold letters. This reveals the intensely intimate, even sentimental character of these representations of a loved-one, given to someone close to perpetuate their memory. The names of the models have often been lost to time, for example the name of the young man whose portrait is attributed to Gonzales Coques. These small, fragile-looking works of art invite silent contemplation, in private. Frits Lugt and his successors were undoubtedly attracted by the artistic qualities of miniature painting which ‘bears witness to so much life and art; the small size of the object is in inverse proportion to the quantity of impressions it engenders’.

The dynastic or documentary considerations usually affecting the constitution of collections of miniature paintings in public institutions have played virtually no role in this case, unless the figure portrayed belongs to the world of art. Samuel Cooper, the English artist, painted the portrait of Margaret Lemon, mistress of Anthony van Dyck; Georg Andreas Wolfgang the Younger portrayed the Italian collector and art historian Francesco Maria Niccolò Gabburri, who owned some of the drawings now in the Fondation Custodia.

The artist has been working for several years on the subject of ‘the gaze’. Following the directions of Frits Lugt, she uses a magnifying glass to bring a fresh, creative eye to these small portraits. She was struck, while examining the details, by the care and attention given by painters of the day to the appearance of their models. With her magnifying glass, she has transformed their faces, redefining their features and expressions. The images thus produced, using reflections and mirrors, allow the spectator to immerse him or herself in Pascale-Sophie’s work.

Her installation creates a link with the exhibition Art on Paper. Recent acquisitions by the Fondation Custodia which, a few rooms further on, includes other work by contemporary artists inspired by the collections in the Fondation Custodia.

Website of Pascale-Sophie Kaparis