Henri Toutin

Henri Toutin was a French goldsmith who spent his days hunched over a tiny furnace, melting gold into shimmering portraits no bigger than a credit card. He perfected a secret trick—enamel mixed with gold—that made his portraits glow like tiny stained-glass windows. His gold-and-enamel miniatures were so precise, kings and queens lined up to sit for him. Look up his *Portrait of Charles I Stuart*—it’s so crisp you can almost see the stubble on the king’s chin.