Oliver could paint miniatures in the same jewel-like style as Nicholas Hilliard, but he was probably also trained in Continental art and could produce very different work, such as this miniature showing the influence of the Netherlandish print-maker Hendrik Goltzius. Inscribed on either side of the head ‘Ano Dm 1590/Aetatis Suae 27’, the sitter is thus identified as being 27 years old in the year 1590, which therefore discounts the erroneous identification on the later frame as a portrait of the essayist and statesman Sir Francis Bacon. Although the sitter remains unidentified, the miniature is still a striking example of a portrait drawn from life. By the use of a strong light cast on the man’s face from the front left, Oliver is able to manipulate shadow to create a more dramatic effect than is to be seen in Hilliard’s work of the same period.
Physical description
Portrait of a man, half-length, in an oval frame with metal spirals at top; inscriptions in gold on either side of the head. The vellum on which the portrait is painted is in two pieces, a small, separate strip having been added to the left edge by the artist.
Place of Origin
England, Great Britain (painted)
Date
1590 (painted)
Artist/maker
Oliver, Isaac, born 1558 - died 1617 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
Watercolour on vellum stuck onto card
Marks and inscriptions
'Ano Dni 1590 / AEtatis Suae 27.'
Dimensions
Height: 54 mm, Width: 43.5 mm
Descriptive line
Portrait miniature of an unknown man, watercolour on vellum, by Isaac Oliver, 1590.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Strong, Roy. Artists of the Tudor Court: the Portrait Miniature Rediscovered 1520-1620.. London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983.
Cat. 144, p. 102. Full Citation:
“ISAAC OLIVER
144 Unknown Man, 1590
Victoria & Albert Museum (P.137-1941)
Vellum stuck on to a plain card (the vellum is in two pieces. A small, separate strip having been added to the left edge by the artist), oval, 52 x 43.5 mm, 2 1/16 x 1 23/32 inc.
Although faced, a superb ad vivum portrait by Oliver. The use of shadow by means of the strong light cast from the front left is already highly developed, totally different from Hilliard’s technique during the same period and vividly reflecting the influence of Netherlandish art and the engraved portraits of Goltzius. This is accentuated by the cast shadow in the background, giving a three dimensional chiaroscuro effect which the lettering, very much in Hilliard’s vein with flourishes to the A’s, denies. The edge of the miniature has been trimmed, thus losing most of the gold line; in addition there are a number of small damages in the background and minute paint losses to the costume. The erroneous identification of on the later frame as Francis Bacon can be discounted.
INSCRIBED: On either side of the head: Ano Dni 1590 / AEtatis Suae 27.
COLLECTIONS: Presented by Mrs Samuel S. Joseph, 1941, previous history unknown.
LITERATURE: Winter, Elizabethan Miniatures, pl. IX (a).
V&A, 1947 (131).
Auerbach, Hilliard, pp. 238, pl. 199.”
Exhibition History
Artists of the Tudor Court: the portrait miniature rediscovered, 1520-1620 (Victoria and Albert Museum 09/07/1983-06/11/19833)
Materials
Watercolour; Cardboard; Vellum
Techniques
Painting
Subjects depicted
Man; Cloak; Ruff; Doublet
Categories
Portraits; Paintings
Collection code
PDP
