Checkmate - Game of Kings: Miniatures of Early Baroque Rulers

Nicholas Hilliard, Gentleman in a Golden-brown Costume, 1594, Kunst Museum Winterthur, permanent loan from the City of WInterthur, donation of Emil S. Kern.

Checkmate – Game of Kings addresses the importance of miniature portraits during the early Baroque period. Exquisite miniatures from France, England and the Netherlands from the rich fund of the Winterthur collection make it possible to experience the need for representation of the powerful at that time.

The early Baroque era in Europe was a time of social upheaval and military conflicts: the Reformation and Counter-Reformation led to lengthy religious wars such as the Thirty Years' War. The question of religion turned into a struggle for leadership among the European powers: what began as a religious conflict ultimately ended as a territorial war. Like a game of chess, the monarchs pursued the securing of their own power and the expansion of their empire.

Miniatures played an important role in this tactical game, both as status symbols and as badges of social rank. With the ruling classes keen to raise their profile, portrait painting gained a foothold in Protestant-dominated countries, especially in England and the Netherlands. Sitters sought to present themselves in costly garments, uniforms and armour, inspired by the attire of absolutist kings.