Image credit: Unknown Artist (19th Century); Portrait of a Young Union Civil War Soldier, c. 1861–1865; Hand-colored Ninth-plate Ambrotype, Thermoplastic Case; 14-Ph-178. Purchased with funds provided by William V. Toner, ’65

A new permanent installation at the La Salle University Art Museum features 19th-century portrait miniatures, including miniature painted portraits, a silhouette portrait on paper from Charles Willson Peale’s Philadelphia Museum, and several examples of early photographic portraits: daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes.

Miniatures were often worn or displayed as intimate mementos of loved ones, particularly when they traveled or went to war. They were less expensive than the traditional large-scale painted portraits that hang elsewhere in the Art Museum.

The production of miniature paintings peaked from about 1790 to 1840, then declined with the development of the daguerreotype. Artists simply could not compete with the low prices and the detailed accuracy of early photographic images. Like small painted portraits on ivory, early photographic portraits were displayed and protected in hard decorative cases lined in velvet. The portraits were unique originals with no negatives.

At the La Salle Art Museum’s annual Art Angels event this spring, many of these portrait miniatures were “adopted” by guests and museum supporters.

By adopting a piece of artwork, individuals or groups may make donations to support its purchase or partial purchase and have their name or that of a loved one added to the credit line, forever associated with that piece of art.