NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Nicholas Hilliard

Nicholas Hilliard (c. 1547–January 7, 1619) was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some larger cabinet miniatures, up to about ten inches tall, and at least the two famous half-length panel portraits of Elizabeth. He enjoyed continuing success as an artist, and continuing financial troubles, for forty-five years, and his paintings still exemplify the visual image of Elizabethan England, very different from that of most of Europe in the late sixteenth century. Technically he was very conservative by European standards, but his paintings are superbly executed and have a freshness and charm that has ensured his continuing reputation as "the central artistic figure of the Elizabethan age, the only English painter whose work reflects, in its delicate microcosm, the world of Shakespeare's earlier plays".^[1] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x2028, 251 KB) Description: Title: de: SelbstportrÃ¤t,Tondo Technique: de: Wasserfarbe auf Pergament auf Pappe Dimensions: Country of origin: de: GroÃŸbritanien Current location (city): de: London Current location (gallery): de: Victoria and Albert Museum Other notes: de: Miniaturmalerei, Elisabethanischer... Self Portrait is a 1970 double album by Bob Dylan. ... Events May 13 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Some links to this page should perhaps link to miniature (illuminated manuscript). ... Elizabeth I redirects here. ... James VI and I (19 June 1566 â€“ 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary... Isaac Oliver c. ... is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 13 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A goldsmith creating a new ring A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with precious metals, usually to make jewelry. ... Some links to this page should perhaps link to miniature (illuminated manuscript). ... Elizabeth I redirects here. ... James VI and I (19 June 1566 â€“ 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary... The Ghent Altarpiece: The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, interior view, 1432. ... Elizabethan redirects here. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Early life and family

He was the son of Richard Hilliard (1519–1594) of Exeter, Devon, England, a staunchly Protestant goldsmith who was high sheriff of the city and county in 1560, and Laurence, daughter of John Wall, a London goldsmith.^[2] The city of Exeter is the county town of Devon, in the southwest of England, also known as the West Country. ... This page is about the English county, for alternative meanings see Devon (disambiguation). ... Protestantism encompasses the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with the doctrines of the Reformation. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Hilliard may have been a close relative of Grace Hiller (Hilliar), first wife of Theophilus Eaton (1590–1657), the co-founder of New Haven Colony in America.^[3] Theophilus Eaton (1590 – January 7, 1658) was a merchant, farmer, and British colonial leader who was the co-founder and first governor of New Haven Colony, Connecticut. ... The New Haven Colony was an English colonial venture in Connecticut in North America from 1637 to 1662. ... North American redirects here. ...

He appears to have been attached at a young age to the household of the leading Exeter Protestant John Bodley, father of Thomas Bodley who founded the Bodleian Library in Oxford. John Bodley went into exile on the accession of the Catholic Queen Mary I of England, and on May 8th 1557 Hilliard, then ten years old, was recorded in Geneva as one of an eleven-strong Bodley family group at a Calvinist service presided over by John Knox. Calvinism does not seem to have struck with Hilliard, but the fluent French he acquired abroad was later useful.^[4] Thomas Bodley, two years older, continued an intensive classical education under leading scholars in Geneva, but it is not clear to what extent Hilliard was given similar studies. The Cromwell Road entrance to the Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (the V&A) is on Cromwell Road in Kensington, West London. ... Thomas Bodley Sir Thomas Bodley (March 2, 1545 - January 28, 1613), was an English diplomat and scholar, founder of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. ... Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library. ... This article is about the city of Oxford in England. ... Mary I (18 February 1516 â€“ 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 6 July 1553 (de facto) or 19 July 1553 (de jure) until her death on 17 November 1558. ... Geneva (pronunciation //; French: GenÃ¨ve //, German: //, Italian: Ginevra //, Romansh: Genevra) is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after ZÃ¼rich), and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). ... In an unadorned church, the 17th century congregation stands to hear the sermon. ... For other persons named John Knox, see John Knox (disambiguation). ...

Hilliard painted a portrait of himself at the age of 13 in 1560^[5] and is said to have executed one of Mary Queen of Scots when he was eighteen years old.^[3] Mary, Queen of Scots redirects here. ...

Hilliard apprenticed himself to the Queen's jeweller Robert Brandon (d. 1591),^[6] a goldsmith and city chamberlain of London, and Sir Roy Strong suggests that Hilliard may also have been trained in the art of limning by Levina Teerlinc during this period.^[6] She was the daughter of Simon Bening, the last great master of the Flemish manuscript illumination tradition, and became court painter to Henry VIII after Holbein's death. After his seven years' apprenticeship, Hilliard was made a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in 1569.^[2] He set up a workshop with his younger brother John; another brother was also a goldsmith, and the youngest a clergyman.^[7] He married Brandon's daughter Alice (1556–1611) in 1576^[8] and they had seven children. Sir Roy Strong is an English arts curator, writer, broadcaster and garden designer. ... Levina Teerlinc (born Bruges, ?1510â€“20; d London, 23 June 1576) was a Flemish miniaturist who served as a painter to the English court of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. Teerlinc was the oldest daughter of the Simon Bening (sometimes written as Benninc or Benninck), the renowned illuminated... Simon Bening (1483 - 1561) was a 16th century miniature painter of the Ghent-Bruges school, the last major artist of the Netherlndish tradition. ... In the strictest definition of illuminated manuscript, only manuscripts decorated with gold or silver, like this miniature of Christ in Majesty from the Aberdeen Bestiary (folio 4v), would be considered illuminated. ... Henry VIII (28 June 1491 â€“ 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... A 1543 portrait miniature of Hans Holbein the Younger by Lucas Horenbout Holbeins 1533 painting The Ambassadors Hans Holbein the Younger (c. ... The third and present Goldsmiths Hall in the second half of the 19th century The second Goldsmiths Hall c. ...

Career

Royal limner

Hilliard emerged from his apprenticeship at a time when a new royal portrait painter was "desperately needed."^[6] Two panel portraits long attributed to him, the "Phoenix" and "Pelican" portraits, are dated c. 1572-76. Hilliard was appointed limner (miniaturist) and goldsmith to Elizabeth I at an unknown date;^[8] his first known miniature of the Queen is dated 1572, and already in 1573 he was granted the reversion of a lease by the Queen for his "good, true and loyal service."^[9] In 1571 he had made "a booke of portraitures" for the Earl of Leicester, the Queen's favourite, which is likely to be how he became known to the Court; several of his children were named after Leicester and his circle.^[10] This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Look up Favorite in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Despite this patronage, in 1576 the recently married Hilliard left for France "with no other intent than to increase his knowledge by this voyage, and upon hope to get a piece of money of the lords and ladies here for his better maintenance in England at his return" carefully reported the English Ambassador in Paris, Sir Amyas Paulet, with whom Hilliard stayed for much of the time. Francis Bacon was attached to the embassy, and Hilliard did a miniature of him in Paris.^[11] He remained until 1578-79, mixing in the artistic circles round the court, staying with Germain Pilon and George of Ghent, respectively the Queen's sculptor and painter, and meeting Ronsard, who perhaps paid him the rather double-edged compliment later quoted by Hilliard: "the islands indeed seldom bring forth any cunning man, but when they do it is in high perfection."^[12] This article is about the capital of France. ... For other persons named Francis Bacon, see Francis Bacon (disambiguation). ... Germain Pilon (c. ... Pierre de Ronsard, commonly referred to as Ronsard (September 11, 1524 - December, 1585), was a French poet and prince of poets (as his own generation in France called him). ...

He appears in the papers of the duc d'Alençon, a suitor of Queen Elizabeth, under the name of "Nicholas Belliart, peintre anglois," in 1577, receiving a stipend of 200 livres. The miniature of Madame de Sourdis, certainly the work of Hilliard, is dated 1577, in which year she was a maid of honour at the French court; and other portraits which are his work are believed to represent Gabrielle d'Estrées (niece of Madame de Sourdis), la princesse de Condé and Madame de Montgomery.^[3] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (776x1006, 63 KB) Description: Title: de: PortrÃ¤t des Duc dAlenÃ§on, Oval Technique: de: Wasserfarbe auf Pergament auf Pappe Dimensions: Country of origin: de: GroÃŸbritanien Current location (city): de: London Current location (gallery): de: Victoria and Albert Museum... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (776x1006, 63 KB) Description: Title: de: PortrÃ¤t des Duc dAlenÃ§on, Oval Technique: de: Wasserfarbe auf Pergament auf Pappe Dimensions: Country of origin: de: GroÃŸbritanien Current location (city): de: London Current location (gallery): de: Victoria and Albert Museum... Hercule FranÃ§ois, Duke of Anjou and AlenÃ§on, (March 18, 1555 â€“ June 19, 1584) was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici. ... Gabrielle dEstrÃ©es, duchesse de Beaufort et Verneuil, marquise de Monceaux (1571â€“1599) was a French mistress of King Henry IV of France, born at ChÃ¢teau de la BourdaisiÃ¨re in Montlouis-sur-Loire, in the Indre-et-Loire dÃ©partement of France. ...

Money was a persistent problem for Hilliard. The typical price for a miniature seems to have been £3 — which compares well with prices charged by Cornelis Ketel in the 1570s of ₤1 for a head-and-shoulders portrait and ₤5 for a full-length.^[13] In 1599 Hilliard secured an annual allowance from the Queen of £40, and in 1617 managed to obtain a monopoly on producing miniatures and engravings of James I, something Elizabeth had refused in 1584. Nonetheless, he was briefly imprisoned in Ludgate Prison that year, after standing surety for the debt of another, and being unable to produce the amount. His father-in-law evidently had little trust in his financial acumen; his will of 1591 provided for his daughter by an allowance administered by the Goldsmiths' Company. The same year the Queen gave him £400,^[14] a large amount, after he made a second Great Seal, and perhaps bearing in mind that he had not had an annuity. After his return from France he had invested in a scheme, or perhaps scam, for gold-mining in Scotland, which he still remembered bitterly twenty-five years later.^[15] This article is about the economic term. ... Hercules fighting the Centaurs , engraving by Sebald Beham Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ... Ludgate was the westernmost gate in London Wall. ...

Later career

After his return from France he lived and worked in a house in Gutter Lane, off Cheapside, from 1579 to 1613, when his son and pupil Laurence took it over, carrying on in business for many decades. Hilliard had moved to an unknown address in the parish of St Martins-in-the-Fields, out of the City and nearer the Court. Strong describes the opening of the shop as "a revolution" which soon broadened the clientele for miniatures from the Court to the gentry, and by the end of the century to well-off city merchants.^[16] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1576x2369, 270 KB) Description: Title: de: PortrÃ¤t des George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland Technique: de: Wasserfarbe auf Pergament auf Pappe Dimensions: de: 25,2 Ã— 17,5 cm Country of origin: de: GroÃŸbritanien Current location (city): de: London Current location... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1576x2369, 270 KB) Description: Title: de: PortrÃ¤t des George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland Technique: de: Wasserfarbe auf Pergament auf Pappe Dimensions: de: 25,2 Ã— 17,5 cm Country of origin: de: GroÃŸbritanien Current location (city): de: London Current location... Portrait of George Clifford by Nicholas Hilliard, c. ... This article is about the street in London. ... St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England church just northeast off Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. ...

Apart from Laurence, who continued in a "feeble" version of his father's style, his pupils included Isaac Oliver, by far the most important, and Rowland Lockey. He appears to have given lessons to amateurs also; a letter from a young lady being "finished" in London in 1595 says: "For my drawing, I take an hour in the afternoon... My Lady.. telleth me, when she is well, that she will see if Hilliard will come and teach me, if she can by any means, she will."^[17] Isaac Oliver c. ... Rowland Lockey (1565 - 1616) was an English painter and goldsmith. ...

He continued to work as a goldsmith, and produced some spectacular "picture boxes" or jewelled lockets for miniatures, worn round the neck, such as the Lyte Jewel, which, typically, was given by James I (more generous in this respect than Elizabeth) to a courtier, Thomas Lyte, in 1610. The Armada Jewel, given by Elizabeth to Sir Thomas Heneage and the Drake Pendant given to Sir Francis Drake are the best known examples. As part of the cult of the Virgin Queen, courtiers were rather expected to wear the Queen's likeness, at least at Court. Elizabeth had her own collection of miniatures, kept locked in a cabinet in her bedroom, wrapped in paper and labelled, with the one labelled "My Lord's picture" containing a portrait of Leicester.^[18] This article is about the Elizabethan naval commander. ... Elizabeth I redirects here. ...

His appointment as miniaturist to the Crown included the old sense of a painter of illuminated manuscripts and he was commissioned to decorate important documents, such as the founding charter of Emmanuel College, Cambridge (1584), which has an enthroned Elizabeth within an elaborate framework of Flemish-style Renaissance ornament. He also seems to have designed woodcut title-page frames and borders for books, some of which bear his initials.^[19] In the strictest definition of illuminated manuscript, only manuscripts decorated with gold or silver, like this miniature of Christ in Majesty from the Aberdeen Bestiary (folio 4v), would be considered illuminated. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... of the Emmanuel College College name Emmanuel College Named after Jesus Christ (Emmanuel) Established 1584 Location St Andrews Street Admittance Men and women Master The Lord Wilson of Dinton Undergraduates 500 Graduates 100 Sister college Exeter College, Oxford College Website Boat Club Wesite Emmanuel front court and the Wren... Four horsemen of the Apocalypse by Albrecht DÃ¼rer Ukiyo-e woodcut, Ishiyama Moon by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1889) Woodcut is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface...

He was in high favour with James I as well as with Elizabeth, receiving from the king a special patent of appointment, dated May 5, 1617, granting him a sole licence for royal portraits in engraved form for twelve years; he had already been producing these, although probably usually using the immigrant Renold Elstrack to actually engrave the plates.^[20] James's more lavish presentation of portraits had its effect on the quality of the work from the Hilliard workshop. When the Earl of Rutland returned from an embassy to Denmark, sixteen members of his party were given chains of gold with the king's picture, and others received just a picture.^[21] Download high resolution version (776x958, 68 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (776x958, 68 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Cromwell Road entrance to the Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (the V&A) is on Cromwell Road in Kensington, West London. ... is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed I (1603-1617) to Mustafa I (1617-1623). ... Hercules fighting the Centaurs , engraving by Sebald Beham Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ... The Right Honourable Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland October 6, 1576â€“June 26, 1612) was the son of John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland. ...

The esteem of his contemporaries for Hilliard is testified to by John Donne, who in a poem called The Storm (1597) praises the work of this artist. He died on about January 3, 1619 and was buried on January 7, 1619 in the church of St Martins-in-the-Fields, Westminster, leaving in his will twenty shillings to the poor of the parish, thirty between his two sisters, some goods to his maidservant, and all the rest of his effects to his son, Lawrence Hilliard, his sole executor. For the Welsh courtier and diplomat, see Sir John Donne. ... is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 13 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. ... is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 13 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. ... St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England church just northeast off Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. ... Westminster is a district within the City of Westminster in London. ... This article is about coinage. ...

By far the largest collection of his work is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The National Portrait Gallery has several others. Most of his works remain in England. The conditions in which miniatures have been kept ensure that many remain in excellent condition, and have avoided the attention of restorers, although fading of pigments, and oxidization of sliver paint are common. The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the worlds largest and finest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in central London which was opened in 1856. ...

Style

He was the author of an important treatise on miniature painting, now called The Art of Limning (c. 1600), preserved in the Bodleian Library. Although it was once believed that the author of that treatise was John de Critz, Serjeant Painter to James I, from instructions by Hilliard for the benefit of one of his pupils, perhaps Isaac Oliver^[3], more recent scholarship holds that the Art "can be dated rather closely and established convincingly" as the work of Hilliard.^[2] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1576x1906, 220 KB) Description: Title: de: PortrÃ¤t der Alice Brandom, Gattin des KÃ¼nstlers, Oval Technique: de: Wasserfarbe auf Pergament auf Pappe Dimensions: de: 5,1 Ã— 4,1 cm Country of origin: de: GroÃŸbritanien Current location (city): de: London... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1576x1906, 220 KB) Description: Title: de: PortrÃ¤t der Alice Brandom, Gattin des KÃ¼nstlers, Oval Technique: de: Wasserfarbe auf Pergament auf Pappe Dimensions: de: 5,1 Ã— 4,1 cm Country of origin: de: GroÃŸbritanien Current location (city): de: London... Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library. ... William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle. ...

The masters mentioned in The Art of Limming are Hans Holbein the Younger, Henry VIII's court painter, and Albrecht Dürer, who he probably only knew from his prints. Both were dead by the time of Hilliard's birth, and in many respects he is more conservative even than Holbein. He also learned from French art, including their chalk drawings, and refers to the artist and theoretical writer Gian Paolo Lomazzo. English art was distinctly provincial, and Hilliard's art is a world away from that of the early-Baroque Italian artists of his time, or his close contemporary El Greco (1541-1614). A 1543 portrait miniature of Hans Holbein the Younger by Lucas Horenbout Holbeins 1533 painting The Ambassadors Hans Holbein the Younger (c. ... Henry VIII redirects here. ... Albrecht DÃ¼rer (pronounced /al. ... The term Old Master Print is used to describe works of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition (European or New World). ... Self-portrait, ca. ... For other uses, see Baroque (disambiguation). ... For the Vangelis album, see El Greco (album). ...

In the Art of Limming he cautioned against all but the minimal use of chiaroscuro modelling that we see in his works, reflecting the views of his patron Elizabeth: "seeing that best to show oneself needeth no shadow of place but rather the open light...Her Majesty..chose her place to sit for that purpose in the open alley of a goodly garden, where no tree was near, nor any shadow at all..."^[22] For other use of the term, see Chiaroscuro (disambiguation). ...

He emphasises the need to catch "the grace in countenance, in which the affections appear, which can neither be well used nor well-judged of but by the wiser sort". So the "wise drawer" should "watch" and "catch these lovely graces, witty smilings, and these stolen glances which suddenly like lightening pass and another countenance taketh place".^[23] His normal technique (except for duplicates of royal images) was to paint the whole face in the presence of the sitter, probably in at least two sittings. He kept a number of prepared flesh-coloured blanks ready, in different shades, to save time on laying the "carnation" ground. He then painted the outlines of the features very faintly with a "pencil", actually a very fine pointed squirrel-hair brush, before filling these out by faint hatchings. He added to the techniques available, especially for clothes and jewels, often exploiting the tiny shadows cast by thick dots of paint to give a three-dimensionality to pearls and lace.^[24] A few half-finished miniatures give a good idea of his working technique.^[25] He probably made few drawings; certainly few have survived. This article is about the animal. ...

His style shows little development after the 1570s, apart from developing some technical refinements, except that many of his later repetitions of James I and his family are much weaker than his early works. James did not like sitting for his portrait and Hilliard probably had few sittings with him. From the 1590s on his old pupil Isaac Oliver was a competitor, who was appointed as Limner to the new Queen Anne of Denmark in 1604, and then to Henry, Prince of Wales when he established his own household in 1610.^[26] Oliver had travelled abroad and developed a more modern style than his master, and was certainly better at perspective drawing, though he could not match Hilliard in freshness and psychological penetration. Anna of Denmark (October 14, 1574 â€“ March 4, 1619) was queen consort of King James I of England and VI of Scotland. ... Four people called Henry have held the title Prince of Wales. ...

Gallery

Panel portraits