Gonzaga canonized: Miniature painting on vellum. With gold.

[Miniature painting] / [Aloysius de Gonzaga]. S. Alyosius Gonzaga. S.l.: s.n., s.a. [c. 1726-1750]. [12.6 x 8.7 cm], [1] f. miniature painting on vellum with highlights in gold. Very minor staining, ownership inscriptions on verso.
 
Miniature painting on vellum—with highlights in gold—depicting Saint Aloysius de Gonzaga (1568-91). This devotional item was likely produced to celebrate Gonzaga’s 1726 canonization or to promote his further veneration following that event.
 
In the upper part of the image, a half-length Gonzaga on a cloud displays a lily, a crucifix, and an open book. Below, depicted in grisaille, Gonzaga stands in a rustic landscape holding the lily and cross; a crowned skull is at his feet. Gold pigment is used for the image of Christ on the crucifix, the lettering of Gonzaga’s name, and to highlight his nimbus. 
 
On the verso are two ownership early inscriptions—“E. J. Schmid.” and “I: M: Pfizer”—which suggest that the miniature was made in German-speaking lands. 
 
The use of vellum here is of note. Vellum was, compared to earlier periods, rather rarely used in 17th- and 18th-century drawing/painting/printmaking, e.g., by exceptional artists such as Rembrandt, who experimented with exotic supports to achieve subtle visual effects. “Vellum was otherwise only used in luxury book printing (a relic of medieval manuscripts) and, at the opposite extreme, for devotional images, as it was the only material strong enough to withstand the usage it received in the hand of the poorest of the faithful, who carried images of saints on their person as amulets” (Griffiths, p. 32, and see p. 379 for the 18th-century peddler trade of vellum holy images). 
 
*Anthony Griffiths, The Print before Photography: An Introduction to European Printmaking 1550-1820.