French miniature from the second half of the 18th century

French miniature from the second half of the 18th century.
"Portrait of a lady.
Gouache on vellum.
Bronze frame.
Size: 7.5 cm (diameter); 8 cm (frame).
A lady of high social class poses deliberately for the artist. She covers her hair with a powdered wig adorned with a hat with a border of roses. A tulle shawl closed on her forehead with a bow drapes over her shoulders.
From the Renaissance onwards, miniature portraits were pieces for private contemplation. Considered as jewellery, in the 17th century they became pieces of personal adornment or objects of gift as they were mounted like jewellery. They were executed in a wide variety of techniques, such as oil on copper, pewter or ivory, gouaches on parchment or card and, from the 18th century, watercolour on ivory. This delicate art was gradually lost from the second half of the 19th century onwards, in parallel with the development of photography. The most common type of work of this type in the 19th century was historicist representations, often set in the preceding century.