Palekh miniature (Russian: Палехская миниатюра) is a Russian folk handicraft of a miniature painting, which is done with tempera paints on varnished articles made of papier-mâché (including the creation of small boxes, cigarette cases, and powder cases).
The Palekh miniatures usually represent characters from real life, literary works, fairy tales, bylinas, and songs.
Poetic magic of the Palekh characters, decorativeness of landscapes and architecture, and elongated proportions of the figures go back to the icon-painting traditions.
The miniatures are usually set off with a complicated pattern made with gold dissolved in aqua regia.
Palekh is the most renowned of four such famous villages, the others being Kholuy, Mstyora, and Fedoskino, each producing similar, but clearly distinct artistic style.