09
April 2026

The Magic of Portrait Miniatures

Welcome to The Arts Society Cardiff / Croeso i Gymdeithas Y Celfyddydau Caerdydd
Thursday, April 9, 2026 - 14:00
Chapter Arts Centre, Market Road
Canton Cardiff CF5 1QE
Online Event

In this lecture, we consider the most intimate art of the Tudor age: the portrait miniature or ‘limning’. We trace the genre from its origins in illuminated books to its celebrated blossoming at the Elizabethan court. We explore the distinctive techniques and material ‘special effects’ of this peculiarly English craft, consider the lives and careers of the most famous miniaturists and reveal how the artform inspired the most brilliant poets of the age.

THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Dr Christina Faraday

Dr Christina Faraday, FRHistS, is a historian of art and ideas, specialising in Tudor and Stuart Britain and the wider 16th and 17th-century world. She is a Research Fellow in History of Art at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, a Trustee of the Walpole Society for British art history, and a BBC New Generation Thinker, appearing regularly on BBC Radio 3 and in other popular media. She is an experienced lecturer, and teaches for the History of Art Department at the University of Cambridge, The Wallace Collection, the National Gallery, London, and for the Institute for Continuing Education, Cambridge, where she is Co-Director of the MSt in History of Art and Visual Culture. Her first book, Tudor Liveliness: Vivid Art in Post-Reformation England, was published in 2023 by the Paul Mellon Centre and Yale University Press. Her next book, The Story of Tudor Art, will be published in 2025.

Please note: I am in the process of constructing my profile, and not all my lectures have full synopses yet. For those without, longer synopses are coming soon, or available on request. If you would like to know more about what will be covered in a particular lecture, please get in touch.

If you have any issues contacting me via the email address listed here, please also try me at christinajfar@gmail.com.

Testimonials from past lectures and courses:

"Dr Faraday's enthusiasm and energy were fantastic - she inspired us all and we couldn't wait for more. Brilliant screen shows, such a variety and all so well prepared ... she knows so much and puts it all over so intelligently and is so easy to understand."

"Absolutely superb course, with brilliant design and fantastic delivery. The content was thoughtfully crafted, and themes and topics built meaningfully upon one another. Dr. Faraday was an outstanding tutor: such an engaging lecturer, and wonderfully engaged. An exceptional course!"

"This was a very high-quality course and must count as one of the best I have attended."