An Unknown Woman
Portrait Miniature
1576 (painted)
1576 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Portrait of a woman, head and shoulders, looking to front and wearing a black dress, ruff and a veil at the back of her head; inscriptions in gold on either side on a blue background.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | An Unknown Woman (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour on vellum stuck to a plain card |
| Brief description | Portrait miniature of an unknown woman, watercolour on vellum, painted by Nicholas Hilliard, 1576. |
| Physical description | Portrait of a woman, head and shoulders, looking to front and wearing a black dress, ruff and a veil at the back of her head; inscriptions in gold on either side on a blue background. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Content description | Portrait of a woman, head and shoulders, wearing a black dress and a ruff. |
| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'Ano Ani 1576 . AEtatis Suae. 31' (Inscribed on either side of the head:) |
| Gallery label | Nicholas Hilliard 1547-1619
Unknown Woman
Dated 1576
Watercolour on vellum, stuck to pasteboard
Inscribed either side of the head in Latin 'Year of Our Lord 1576 / At the age of 31'
Museum no. P.27-1977 |
| Object history | Provenance: With S. J. Phillips, London; sold from the collection of the late Greta S. Heckett, Sotheby’s 5th November 1577 (lot 122). |
| Production | Hilliard travelled to France in July 1576, so it is possible that the portrait was painted there. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Bibliographic reference | Strong, Roy. Artists of the Tudor Court: the Portrait Miniature Rediscovered 1520-1620.. London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983. Cat. 67, pp. 66-67 Part Citation: "An early and brilliant miniature by Hilliard in superb condition. As the year 1576 runs from April 1st 1575/6 to March 31st 1576/77 this miniature could have been painted in France. Hilliard travelled to France between July 15th and December 8th 1576 and was still in Paris with his wife in February 1578. The sitter and her dress look English, so that the miniature was either painted just before he left, or is of an English lady in, for instance, the embassy in Paris. In concept and handling it is closest of all to the only other miniature of comparable quality, from the period Jane Coningsby, 1574.
The dress is that of a lady of the gentry and aristocratic classes and may be closely paralleled in portraits by George Gower during the 1570s (roy Strong The English Icon, p. 174 (no. 120))." |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | P.27-1977 |
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| Record created | July 8, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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