WALTER STEPHENS LETHBRIDGE, (United Kingdom, 1771-1831). "Portrait of a boy with a dog", ca. 1800. Watercolor on ivory. Signed on the back. Measurements: 6.5 x 9 cm; 15.5 x 13.5 cm (frame). Miniaturist trained at the Royal Academy in London, where he began to exhibit annually his works in which appeared characters and theatrical celebrities of the time. In this work, a child wearing a white dress with a low neckline and a blue ribbon is shown seated in the middle of an intimate scene in which a natural landscape can be glimpsed on the left. The infant is accompanied by a dog that stands on his legs as a symbol of fidelity and trust. Miniature painting, especially portraits, developed in Europe from the 16th century onwards. They were mainly paintings embedded in objects such as medallions, table clocks, or small boxes used as a coat of arms. They were made in a variety of techniques, such as oil on copper, tin or ivory, gouaches on parchment or cardboard and, from the 18th century, watercolor on ivory. This delicate art will be lost from the second half of the nineteenth century as the art of photography begins to develop. Dimensions 6.5 x 9 cm; 15.5 x 13.5 cm (frame).