Levina Teerlinc was a Flemish Renaissance miniaturist who served as a painter to the English court of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. She was the most important miniaturist at the English court between Hans Holbein the Younger and Nicholas Hilliard. Her father, Simon Bening, was a renowned book illuminator and miniature painter of the Ghent-Bruges school and probably trained her as a manuscript painter. She may have worked in her father's workshop before her marriage.
Portrait of Elizabeth I attributed to Levina Teerlinc, c. 1560–5. The Royal Collection. The likeness the sitter bears to those in miniatures of Katherine Grey, Countess of Hertford, has led to many suggestions that Lady Katherine Grey may be the sitter instead
Katherine Grey, Countess of Hertford with her eldest son Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp, by Levina Teerlinc. Late 1562 or early 1563. Private Collection
Possible portrait miniature of Amy Robsart on the occasion of her wedding, 1550, by Levina Teerlinc. In the Yale Center for British Art
Katherine Grey, Countess of Hertford by Levina Teerlinc, c. 1555-1560. The Victoria and Albert Museum, P.10&A-1979
A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century elites, mainly in England and France, and spread across the rest of Europe from the middle of the 18th century, remaining highly popular until the development of daguerreotypes and photography in the mid-19th century. They were usually intimate gifts given within the family, or by hopeful males in courtship, but some rulers, such as James I of England, gave large numbers as diplomatic or political gifts. They were especially likely to be painted when a family member was going to be absent for significant periods, whether a husband or son going to war or emigrating, or a daughter getting married.
A display case with 18th-century portrait miniatures at the National Museum in Warsaw.
Portrait Miniature of Margaret Roper by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1535–36
Christian Horneman's miniature portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven (1802).
The future Duke of Wellington in 1808, by Richard Cosway.