The origins of the term “miniature” have nothing to do with a size. The word miniature comes from the terms ‘minium’ (used for the red lead paint used in illuminated manuscripts) and ‘miniare’ (Latin for ‘to color with red lead’).Miniature painting is sometimes confused and assumed that the pieces must be small or depict subjects on a smaller scale to be considered miniature art.
Miniature painting is a style and technique of painting, and as such, a wall sized work could be painted “in miniature”. Authors of the damodararts.com Press publication, “Miniatures Art India” have stated that miniatures have been painted large and some works are even considered to be gigantic.
