Portrait Miniatures: Artists, Functions and Collections

International Conference at Celle Castle, Germany

Similar to the 2016 symposium, the 2022 conference will cover a wide range of aspects:
- Individual miniaturists, specific workshop contexts, and places of production
- Use and functions of both court and private types and their protagonists
- Iconographic aspects in the context of representation or intimacy
- Evolution of techniques and materials
- Private and public collections

The conference coincides with the ongoing exhibition 'Miniatures from the Time of Napoleon in the Tansey Collection' at the Bomann-Museum.


Friday, 9 September 2022

Celle Castle/ Rittersaal
16:00 - 18:00 Registration and Information
18:00 – 20:00 Welcome and Opening Lectures

Juliane Schmieglitz-Otten, Wienhausen
Realism and Modernism in the Likenesses of a New Epoch - Highlights of the Exhibition ‘Miniatures from the Time of Napoleon‘

Bernd Pappe, Berne
Making a Small Man Great: Miniatures of Napoleon I

Birgitt Schmedding, Hamburg
Two Views: The Power of Seeing


Saturday, 10 September 2022

Objects, Agencies and Social Practices

09:00 Gerrit Walczak, Berlin
Icons of Intimacy: Sex, Agency and the Portrait Miniature

09:30 André and Anne-Marie Regnard-Denis, Belgium
Gestures and their Meaning in Portrait Miniatures

10:00 Karin Schrader, Bad Nauheim
‘Telling Objects’ – Miniatures in Eighteenth-Century Courtly Portraits

10:30 Discussion
10:45 Coffee

11:15 Lea C. Stephenson, Philadelphia
Racial Capital: Peter Marié’s Miniatures and Gilded Age Whiteness

11:45 Jann Matlock, London
The Museum of Lost Portraits (Paris, 1794–1805)

12:15 Damiët Schneeweisz, London
Shipped, Worn, or Carried: Portrait Miniatures in the Atlantic Ocean World

12:45 Discussion
13:00 Lunch

Politics and Representation

14:15 Juliane Schmieglitz-Otten, Celle
Pictorial Family Ties – Series of Portrait Miniatures Serving Political Networks

14:45 Martin Miersch, Ulm
Fashion and Political Statement – Portrait Miniatures from the Time of the French Revolution

15:15 Maxime Charron, Paris
Examples of Intimate Portraits from the Royal and Imperial Courts
of France during the First Half of the 19th Century

15:45 Discussion
16:00 Coffee

16:30 Agnieszka Fulińska, Krakow
A Reputed Portrait Miniature of the King of Rome and Images of Children from Napoleon’s Entourage

17:00 Marina Vidas, Copenhagen
Portrait Miniatures Set in Jewellery and Objects of Personal Adornment Connected to Queen Louise of Denmark and her Daughter, Maria Feodorovna, Empress of Russia

Special Techniques and Materials

17:30 David Hradil, Janka Hradilová, Olga Trmalová, Prague
Benefits of Non Invasive Macro X-Ray Fluorescence Scanning for the Analysis of Materials in Portrait Miniatures

18:00 Discussion


Sunday, 11 September 2022

Special Techniques and Materials

09:00 Christine Slottved Kimbriel, Paola Ricciardi, Flavia Fiorillo, London
Unlocking the English Portrait Miniature: The Materiality of Isaac Oliver’s Oeuvre

09:30 Alan Derbyshire, Lucia Burgio, London
The William Wood Manuscripts

Miniature Painters

10:00 Martin Spies, Giessen
In Search of Charles Townley, Painter of Miniatures and Engraver to the King of Prussia

10:30 Discussion
10:45 Coffee

11:15 Luise Schreiber Knaus, Peter Knaus, Bodelshausen
The Miniature Painter Jeremiah Meyer: His Life and Career During the Reign of King George III

11:45 Sonja Remensberger, Winterthur
Pierre-Louis Bouvier (1765–1836) – Life and Work of a Geneva Miniature Painter whilst Working Abroad

12:15 Nathalie Lemoine-Bouchard, Paris
Ambroise Charlemagne Victor Le Chenetier: When a 19th Century Artist Hides Another One

12:45 Discussion
13:00 Lunch

Collections of Portrait Miniatures

14:15 Stephen Lloyd, Liverpool
Horace Walpole’s recently discovered plan for displaying his miniatures and enamels in the Cabinet of the Tribuna at Strawberry Hill

14:45 Maria Dunina, Moscow
The Collection of Miniatures of the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

15:15 Tatiana Udras, Moscow
Portrait Miniatures of the Romanoff Family in Russian and Foreign Collections

15:45 Discussion

16:00 Cecilia Rönnerstam, Stockholm
On Origins and Originals – the History of a Collection

16:30 Blythe Sobol, Kansas City
An Outsized Passion for Miniatures: The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

17:00 Discussion
17:15 Closing Remarks


The conference is organised by The Tansey Miniatures Foundation, Celle. It coincides with the ongoing exhibition ‚Miniatures from the Time of Napoleon in the Tansey Collection‘ at the Bomann-Museum. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 11.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Friday 9 September 2022: 11.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

The conference language is English. Participation is free of charge.

For registration please contact: Juliane Schmieglitz-Otten, Celle
juliane.schmieglitz-ottentansey-miniatures.com

For information please contact: Bernd Pappe, Bern
bernd.pappetansey-miniatures.com