With a PhD in Art History and a Diploma in Restoration, Dr Bernd Pappe will offer you competent advice on all matters relating to the conservation, restoration, and evaluation of portrait miniatures.
A specialist in the conservation and restoration of portrait miniatures, Bernd looks after numerous private and public collections of miniatures in Europe, such as that of the Louvre in Paris. He will advise you on storing and exhibiting your delicate works of art with recommendations on suitable equipment and lighting, and he will act as a consultant for evaluating your portrait miniatures from the perspective of art history. He will assess your miniature paintings in light of the artist who painted them, the sitter(s), their date, and the technique(s) used in their creation. Bernd lives in Switzerland but also works in neighbouring countries.
Bernd is the author of multiple articles and books on miniature paintings. His doctoral thesis, which was published in 2015, focuses on the miniaturist Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin. In his capacity as board member of the Tansey Miniatures Foundation in Celle, Germany, Bernd organises the international conferences on portrait miniatures which the foundation has been holding since 2013. Moreover, Bernd has been teaching in the department of conservation and restoration at the Bern University of the Arts since 1998.
Until the invention of photography, portrait miniatures were the only means for carrying the likeness of a loved one and for taking it out and looking at it when desired. They provided consolation during separation or following the loss of a beloved person.
The miniaturist would invite his clients for sittings so he could paint from life. He painted in watercolour and gouache predominantly on parchment and ivory. The resulting miniature portraits were no doubt among the most personal and intimate paintings that people commissioned of themselves.
Portrait miniatures evolved in the early 16th century. Their popularity peaked at several points in time, but their true golden age lasted from about 1770 to 1830. After that time, the importance of portrait miniatures waned due to the advance of photography.
Pompeo Batoni: Sir Sampson Gideon and an Unidentified Companion (Detail), 1767, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Legal notice: © 2023, Atelier Bernd Pappe, Felsenaustrasse 17, CH-3004 Bern, Telephone.: +41 (0)31 302 77 45; Email: bernd.pappe@bluemail.ch
Header image: Works from a private miniature collection. Photo: Bernd Pappe. Image at the centre: Birgitt Schmedding, Hamburg. Image at the bottom: Pompeo Batoni, Sir Sampson Gideon and an Unidentified Companion (Detail), 1767, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, cat. no. 1325-5.