Minium, the Latin name for a red mineral coloring matter, was the pigment used by the early scribes for the initial letters and headings of these manuscripts. Thus, the term "miniatura" generally came to be applied to these portraits, which later became known as "miniatures." Miniature painting on ivory, or paintings "in little," as they have been called, gradually developed into a "personal" art, because of their peculiar appeal to the sentiments and affections, and for their "companionable proportions." They were often framed in black wood, usually in gold, however, sometimes mounted in jewels or set in a locket that could be readily worn on a chain or ribbon about the neck, or kept in intimate touch upon the dressing table or desk. In them the fashions and vanities of costume and head-dress of all periods have been recorded in the daintiest and most minute detail. [Illustration: GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER, BY JOHN TRUMBULL In the possession of the New York Historical Society] The history of miniature painting, however, is not complex--the methods and materials being much the same throughout its development or decline. The art is largely confined to the simple portrayal of heads, with only occasional contributions of fanciful subjects. Were it not, therefore, for the changes of fashion, one would have difficulty in remembering the painters, and an approach to monotony would result. [Illustration: MAN'S HEAD, BY JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City] Curiously enough, the first notable miniature painter, Hans Holbein, has remained the undisputed prince of miniature painters. Indeed, it may be said that the birth of miniature painting as an enduring means of expression in art dates from the time of Holbein's arrival in England, in 1526. Following Holbein, Nicholas Hilliard became England's most distinguished exponent of the art--then Richard Cosway and his contemporaries in England, France and Italy. This period, the eighteenth century, marks the introduction of miniature painting into America, where it became popular as an expression of art during and after the Revolution, as large oil portraits had been before. Charles Willson Peale, the famous painter of George Washington (of whom Peale is said to have painted fourteen portraits) was the best known of his era, many of his miniatures being painted while in camp on the battlefield. His brother James, likewise won a reputation in miniature painting, his work being notable for its extreme delicacy and beauty. We are told that starting life as a carpenter, he was able to make the frames used by both his brother and himself for their portraits and miniatures. [Illustration: MARTHA WASHINGTON GREENE, BY EDWARD G. MALBONE In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City] [Illustration: WASHINGTON ALLSTON, BY RICHARD M. STAIGG In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City] [Illustration: MRS. RICHARD C. DERBY, BY EDWARD G. MALBONE