Game of Thrones : Early Modern Playing Cards and Portrait Miniature Painting

Abstract

In Tudor England, portrait miniatures were frequently painted on playing cards. Precise instructions are provided by Edward Norgate: “Take an ordinary playing card, polish it, and make it so smooth as possibly you can (the white side of it); make it everywhere even and clean from spots, then choose the best abortive parchment, and cutting out a piece equal to your card, with fine and clean starch paste it on the card.”1 But is the playing card only an arbitrary picture support that was selected by painters mainly for its specific material qualities? The present study is devoted to the relationship between playing cards and miniature painting in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, as well as the question of whether there is more behind the choice of “ordinary” playing cards than first meets the eye. It suggests that it is: especially in the early phase of portrait miniature painting, there appear to be clear relationships between the four suits as well as the face cards and contemporary social and gender roles. Thus, if it is true that in many cases the playing card backing a portrait miniature conveys coded information about the sitter, we are dealing with a medium that employs courtly imagery to express social affiliations, political loyalties, and ties of affection.