EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.- The Scottish National Portrait Gallery presents ’Portrait Miniatures from The Dumas Egerton Collection,’ on view through June 16, 2002. Tiny details are captured in portraits, as small as an inch in size, in this fabulous display of miniatures from one of the most comprehensive private collections in the world.

Second in the series of annual exhibitions at the Portrait Gallery this show explores the secret and intimate world of the miniature. Drawn from a private collection, this exhibition includes about 75 signed works that show the great skill and exquisite workmanship of most of the major - and some of the minor - portrait miniaturists working in these islands from around 1525 to 1850. Half of the displays are devoted to the different techniques used by the artists, whether painting in watercolour on vellum or ivory, and enamel or oil paint on metal or card. The other half of the exhibition examines the differing traditions of the Scottish, Irish and English miniaturists - as well as works by the highly skilled foreign artists who were attracted to work here.