#louis michel van loo
Miniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraits
- Grace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach between 1770 and 1790. She wears a portrait of her husband John Newman. From Sotherby’s.
- Isabel de Farnesio, queen consort of Spain, painted by Louis-Michel van Loo ca. 1739. From Prado, Madrid.
- Maria Luisa de Parma, painted by Anton Rafael Mengs ca. 1765. From Prado, Madrid.
- Maren Christine Holbye, painted by Peder Aadnes ca. 1786. She wears the portrait of her husband, vicar Poul Christopher Holbye, around her neck. From Blomqvist Auctions.
- Portrait of Johan Georg Büchler, 1750s. The miniature portrait is mounted on a brooch with blue forget-me-nots. From The National Museum in Oslo, originally belonging to Helene Cathrine Büchler, his daughter.
- Catherine Vedastine von den Driesch, painted by an unknown French painter in the 1770s. She wears a miniature portrait of her husband Louis Claude de Bretteville. From The National Museum in Oslo.
- Elisabeth de Badorot, Countess de Saint Germain, painted in the 1770s by an unknown French artist, though I believe this is a newer copy. She wears a portrait of her husband on the wrist. Sold on eBay.
- Maria Luisa de Bourbon, painted by Anton Raphael Mengs ca. 1764. It was made as an engagement portrait, and the miniature on the bracelet shows her fiancé Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany. From the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
- Unknown Italian lady, painted in the 1780s by an unknown Italian (possibly Venetian) master. From Walter’s Art Museum, Baltimore.
Judging from this and from other portraits I have seen, wearing the miniature portrait as a bracelet, and preferably on a pearl bracelet, seems to have been much in fashion. But as shown here, it could also be worn around the neck, on a chain, or as a brooch. The important thing was to display the loved one to the world, and yet wear the portrait on an intimate place near the chest or wrist.
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