The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Miniature
1628 (painted)
1628 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
Miniature painting in England was predominantly a portrait art. But from the late 1620s Peter Oliver (possibly born in 1594, died 1647) also painted subject pictures in miniature. These are called 'Histories in limning' (limning was the traditional word for miniature) in Edward Norgate's treatise on miniature painting, entitled Miniatura; or, The Art of Limning . Norgate (born in the 1580s, died 1650) was a contemporary of Oliver.
People
As Norgate explained in his treatise, such subject miniatures were unknown in England until 'of late years it pleased a most excellent King to command...some of his own pieces, of Titian...to be translated into English limning, which indeed were admirably performed by his Servant, Mr Peter Oliver'. Charles I (ruled 1625-1649) was a great connoisseur and collector. He had a magnificent collection of oil paintings. His command to have them copied in miniature reflects the value he placed on both his collection and miniature painting, a highly prized and exquisite watercolour art.
Ownership & Use
Charles I (1625-1649) employed the Dutch wax-modeller Abraham van der Doort (born around 1575-1580, died 1640) to look after his collection of paintings. This copy by Oliver after a painting by Titian (born around 1485, died 1576) was a highly prized object and stored as such. Van der Doort recorded for Charles that it was 'kept in your new cabinet room within your cupboards...at Whitehall'. Here, it was one of ten miniatures kept in 'double shutting cases with locks and keys and glasses over them'. Titian's original oil painting, of which this is a copy, survives in a private collection in Rome. This miniature matches the description of the Titian in the inventory of Charles I's collection.
Subject Depicted
The miniature depicts the New Testament story of the Flight into Egypt. Joseph is warned in a dream that King Herod is seeking the infant Jesus to kill him. So he flees with Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt.
Miniature painting in England was predominantly a portrait art. But from the late 1620s Peter Oliver (possibly born in 1594, died 1647) also painted subject pictures in miniature. These are called 'Histories in limning' (limning was the traditional word for miniature) in Edward Norgate's treatise on miniature painting, entitled Miniatura; or, The Art of Limning . Norgate (born in the 1580s, died 1650) was a contemporary of Oliver.
People
As Norgate explained in his treatise, such subject miniatures were unknown in England until 'of late years it pleased a most excellent King to command...some of his own pieces, of Titian...to be translated into English limning, which indeed were admirably performed by his Servant, Mr Peter Oliver'. Charles I (ruled 1625-1649) was a great connoisseur and collector. He had a magnificent collection of oil paintings. His command to have them copied in miniature reflects the value he placed on both his collection and miniature painting, a highly prized and exquisite watercolour art.
Ownership & Use
Charles I (1625-1649) employed the Dutch wax-modeller Abraham van der Doort (born around 1575-1580, died 1640) to look after his collection of paintings. This copy by Oliver after a painting by Titian (born around 1485, died 1576) was a highly prized object and stored as such. Van der Doort recorded for Charles that it was 'kept in your new cabinet room within your cupboards...at Whitehall'. Here, it was one of ten miniatures kept in 'double shutting cases with locks and keys and glasses over them'. Titian's original oil painting, of which this is a copy, survives in a private collection in Rome. This miniature matches the description of the Titian in the inventory of Charles I's collection.
Subject Depicted
The miniature depicts the New Testament story of the Flight into Egypt. Joseph is warned in a dream that King Herod is seeking the infant Jesus to kill him. So he flees with Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour on vellum put down on pasteboard |
| Brief description | 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt', watercolour on vellum, miniature by Peter Oliver after Titian, 1628. |
| Physical description | Miniature painting depicting the Joseph, the Madonna and Child resting in a landscape. Joseph, the donkey behind him, is standing on the left; the Madonna seated at the centre of the scene with the infant Christ in her arms. In the right background a horse and rider. Features of the Madonna and Child in minute, brown blended stipple with slight sanguine touches, especially in the lips; the child in paler and more blended stipple; both on a pale creamy carnation ground; Joseph in dark brown and grey in long wiry hatches over a brown wash, lightened out to the basic cream carnation; hair in brown wash hatched in darker colour; costume in washes of blue and crimson lake, hatched with darker colour and highlighted with white; shadows of Joseph’s cloak hatched in blue and green; touches of metallic gold in Mary’s shawl ends; the landscape in washes of opaque colour, broadly hatched and stippled especially in the sky; details, such as flowers in the foreground left and bushes middle right, minutely washed in opaque greens, yellows, whites, etc.; the rocks, background right, in thick undifferentiated washes of grey over brown, possibly unfinished; a gold marginal stip; on vellum put down on pasteboard. Frame Modern ebonised fruitwood veneer of complex bolection mouldings, replacing a carved and gilded frame in which Jones kept it. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions | '1628 / Pi: Oliuier / Fe [flourish]' (Signed lower right, in gold) |
| Gallery label | British Galleries:
TWO COPIES IN MINIATURE OF OIL PAINTINGS These miniatures are copies of Italian paintings owned by Charles I. His great art collection helped to promote his reputation as a wealthy and sophisticated patron. He may well have commissioned Peter Oliver to make such copies as portable reminders of some of his favourite paintings. After Charles's execution in 1649 many of his paintings were sold off by the Commonwealth Government.(27/03/2003) |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by John Jones |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type Miniature painting in England was predominantly a portrait art. But from the late 1620s Peter Oliver (possibly born in 1594, died 1647) also painted subject pictures in miniature. These are called 'Histories in limning' (limning was the traditional word for miniature) in Edward Norgate's treatise on miniature painting, entitled Miniatura; or, The Art of Limning . Norgate (born in the 1580s, died 1650) was a contemporary of Oliver. People As Norgate explained in his treatise, such subject miniatures were unknown in England until 'of late years it pleased a most excellent King to command...some of his own pieces, of Titian...to be translated into English limning, which indeed were admirably performed by his Servant, Mr Peter Oliver'. Charles I (ruled 1625-1649) was a great connoisseur and collector. He had a magnificent collection of oil paintings. His command to have them copied in miniature reflects the value he placed on both his collection and miniature painting, a highly prized and exquisite watercolour art. Ownership & Use Charles I (1625-1649) employed the Dutch wax-modeller Abraham van der Doort (born around 1575-1580, died 1640) to look after his collection of paintings. This copy by Oliver after a painting by Titian (born around 1485, died 1576) was a highly prized object and stored as such. Van der Doort recorded for Charles that it was 'kept in your new cabinet room within your cupboards...at Whitehall'. Here, it was one of ten miniatures kept in 'double shutting cases with locks and keys and glasses over them'. Titian's original oil painting, of which this is a copy, survives in a private collection in Rome. This miniature matches the description of the Titian in the inventory of Charles I's collection. Subject Depicted The miniature depicts the New Testament story of the Flight into Egypt. Joseph is warned in a dream that King Herod is seeking the infant Jesus to kill him. So he flees with Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt. |
| Bibliographic reference | Murdoch, John. Seventeenth-century English Miniatures in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: The Stationery Office, 1997. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 740-1882 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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