Mary Beale 1679 by Charles Beale

The miniature (fig.1) is painted in watercolour on vellum, on an oval support which is mounted under slightly convex glass, as shown by its appearance in raking light from the left (fig.2). The brass plate on the reverse of the mount is inscribed (fig.3):

However, the lettering is modern, not consistent with the seventeenth-century date of the work, and the even flow of its scribing suggests it was done by machine, rather than inscribed by hand as it necessarily would have been at the time of painting.

Neat outlines in graphite pencil for the features, curled hair and the neckline can be discerned through the paint (fig.2), which has been confidently and accurately applied with a fine brush, with the background completed first, then the face, followed by the shadow behind the head and lastly the bright blue fabric of the gown, as shown in raking light from the left (fig.2). The flesh paint was carefully blended with a more yellow flesh tone to create the contour of the chin, the light eyebrows being very delicately added in tiny brushstrokes, above the realistically rendered grey eyes. Raking light from the top (fig.4) reveals a crisp texture for the white shift at the neckline and the clouds, while more fluid paint was used for the bright blue gown that descends into shadows. The texture of the white paint suggests that a more complex paint formulation than pure watercolour has been used, perhaps involving egg or glue to provide the body. All the paint except that for the blue gown has been made opaque by the inclusion of a white pigment.

The miniature has not been dismounted since its acquisition, therefore analysis has not been carried out on the paint.

January 2019