From about 1780 to 1830, a unique form of portraiture emerged. Miniature paintings of eyes were being produced, so small that they could be set in a ring or a brooch. While some eye portraits represent relatives and lovers who'd died, as a form of private mourning, most of the known eye portraits appear to have been part of a sentimental exchange between lovers, as was the case with Maria Fitzherbert and the young Prince of Wales.

In 1784, Maria encountered the Prince of Wales at the opera in London, and the prince was immediately smitten. He proposed marriage, and while she reluctantly agreed, she later fled to the Continent, hoping he would eventually lose interest. In 1785, the Prince sent a letter to Maria to propose again, but rather than send an engagement ring, he sent a portrait of his eye...