An Unknown Man
Portrait Miniature
1597 (painted)
1597 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Portrait miniature of a man, half-length, to left; gold inscriptions on either side of the head; two hearts printed on the reverse of the backing sheet.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | An Unknown Man (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour on vellum stuck onto a playing card |
| Brief description | Portrait miniature of an unknown man, watercolour on vellum, painted by Nicholas Hilliard, 1597. |
| Physical description | Portrait miniature of a man, half-length, to left; gold inscriptions on either side of the head; two hearts printed on the reverse of the backing sheet. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | Portrait of a man, half-length, turned to and looking to left, his right hand protruding from beneath his cloak; the sitter is wearing a cloak over his right shoulder and an earring in his left ear. |
| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'W Ano Dni. 1597. / W AEtatis 22.' (Inscribed on either side of the head) |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Thomas Hugh Cobb |
| Object history | COLLECTIONS: Bequeathed by Thomas High Cobb, of the Manor, Davies Street, London, in 1944, previous history unknown. |
| 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. 100, p. 83. Part Citation:
The pose of the hand, clasping the cloak which is wrapped around the doublet, recurs in the reverse portraits by John de Critz, in particular his likeness of Sir Robert Cecil, the earlier instances of which are dated 1599 (Roy Strong, Tudor and Jacobean, I, p. 275; II, pl. 538). The brilliant colours, pink, yellow, grey and blue are [an interesting] contrast to Isaac Oliver’s sombre palette. I can offer no interpretation of the letter or monogram that appears in the inscription. These are a W and/or a combination of V and W, perhaps the sitter’s initials." |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | P.5-1944 |
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| Record created | July 8, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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