Portrait of a Gentleman
1770/1825
Medium
Enamel
Dimensions
2.9 × 2.5 cm (1 1/8 × 1 in.); Framed: 3.8 × 3.5 cm (1 1/2 × 1 3/8 in.)
Classification
miniature painting
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
20853
Art Historical Context
Step into the intimate world of 18th- and early 19th-century miniature portraiture with *Portrait of a Gentleman* by Horace Hone, an Irish artist renowned for his delicate enamel works. Created sometime between 1770 and1825, this tiny measures just 2.9 × 2.5 cm (1 1/8 × 1 in.), small enough to fit into a locket or brooch—perfect for wearing close to the heart. Hone's mastery shines in the enamel medium, a technically demanding process where pigments are fused onto a metal base through multiple kiln firings, yielding a luminous, gem-like durability unmatched by fragile watercolors on ivory. Po...