"A chronological guide to the history of the English miniature, fully illustrated in colour with over 100 examples from the National Portrait Gallery. It covers the period from the accession of Elizabeth I to the early 19th century, and includes examples of the works of Nicholas Hilliard, Isaac Oliver, Samuel Cooper, Peter Cross and Richard Cosway, among many other masters of this precise and fascinating art. The text includes detailed discussion of each example illustrated, with biographical details of artists and sitters, as well as presenting new fashions and developments in each period of the history of miniature painting in England."--BOOK JACKET.