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Young Man among Roses
Hilliard, Nicholas - Enlarge image
Young Man among Roses
- Object:
Portrait miniature
- Place of origin:
England (painted)
- Date:
ca. 1587 (painted)
- Artist/Maker:
Hilliard, Nicholas (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Watercolour on vellum stuck onto card
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by George Salting
- Museum number:
P.163-1910
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, Room 57, case 11
Object Type
This portrait is perhaps the most famous of English miniatures. It epitomises the romantic Elizabethan age and is a masterpiece of miniature paintings by its greatest exponent, Nicholas Hilliard. The large elongated oval shape of this miniature was never repeated in Hilliard's work and must relate to the now unknown purpose of the object. Possibly it was incorporated into an expensive object such as a looking-glass.
Subjects Depicted
Elizabeth was the heart of government and the focus of power in England. As a woman ruler she encouraged a unique court culture, exerting her authority through elaborate rituals of courtship with her male courtiers. This role-playing reached a pitch at the Accession Day ceremonial jousts at which the Queen received the homage of her knights. Each courtier presented her with a shield bearing an 'impressa', a combination of picture and motto 'borne by noble personages.to notify some particular conceit', usually their devotion to the Queen. This culture is reflected in this portrait of a young courtier. He wears the Queen's colours, black and white, and is surrounded by the eglantine rose, a symbol of the Queen.
The Sitter
It has been suggested that this unknown young man is Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, the Queen's young favourite. At this date he was about 30 years younger than the Queen he pays homage to, hand on heart.
