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In association with the Cleveland Museum of Art table of contents Director’s Foreword
Preface and Acknowledgments
Collecting British Miniatures at the Cleveland Museum of Art
Catalogue
Index of Artists
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British Portrait Miniatures from the Cleveland Museum of Art
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BRITISH PORTRAIT MINIATURES
Director’s Foreword
The vast majority of the collections at the Cleveland Museum of Art are
fragile, light-sensitive objects that cannot be on permanent view if they are to be preserved for future generations. We display them as often as we can, but for these works, their lives in print and online take on a new urgency, making them available at all times. Their publication is instrumental in spreading awareness of their presence in Cleveland, where scholars and
members of the public alike are welcome to make appointments to study these treasures in person.
This publication brings forward the museum’s remarkable British
portrait miniatures, issued on the occasion of an exhibition that presents the entire collection of portrait miniatures at the Cleveland Museum of
Art, works for which we have a worldwide reputation based on quality and condition, rather than exhaustive coverage. Executed on vellum, card, paper, ivory, and enamel, and often housed in the most extraordinary
cases that are integral to the objects, portrait miniatures are complicated objects meant to be examined up close and from all sides. Several are published here for the first time.
A specialist in British art, Research Fellow Cory Korkow joined the
museum in 2008 to survey and catalogue this extraordinary collection.
Dr. Korkow pioneered the museum’s first online catalogue, launched in 2012 and featuring a subset of the British miniatures. She also spear-
headed a number of carefully considered acquisitions that would add to this core group of masterworks while maintaining the collection’s historic focus on quality, condition, and historical importance.
I am grateful to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for providing the initial
funding for the early stages of this project, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their support of scholarly publications, as well as the Painting and Drawing Society, whose generous sustenance of Dr. Korkow’s research and writing brought this catalogue and exhibition to fruition. David Franklin
The Sarah S. and Alexander M. Cutler Director
Detail of cat. 7 (recto)
7
Director’s Foreword
The vast majority of the collections at the Cleveland Museum of Art are
fragile, light-sensitive objects that cannot be on permanent view if they are to be preserved for future generations. We display them as often as we can, but for these works, their lives in print and online take on a new urgency, making them available at all times. Their publication is instrumental in spreading awareness of their presence in Cleveland, where scholars and
members of the public alike are welcome to make appointments to study these treasures in person.
This publication brings forward the museum’s remarkable British
portrait miniatures, issued on the occasion of an exhibition that presents the entire collection of portrait miniatures at the Cleveland Museum of
Art, works for which we have a worldwide reputation based on quality and condition, rather than exhaustive coverage. Executed on vellum, card, paper, ivory, and enamel, and often housed in the most extraordinary
cases that are integral to the objects, portrait miniatures are complicated objects meant to be examined up close and from all sides. Several are published here for the first time.
A specialist in British art, Research Fellow Cory Korkow joined the
museum in 2008 to survey and catalogue this extraordinary collection.
Dr. Korkow pioneered the museum’s first online catalogue, launched in 2012 and featuring a subset of the British miniatures. She also spear-
headed a number of carefully considered acquisitions that would add to this core group of masterworks while maintaining the collection’s historic focus on quality, condition, and historical importance.
I am grateful to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation for providing the initial
funding for the early stages of this project, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their support of scholarly publications, as well as the Painting and Drawing Society, whose generous sustenance of Dr. Korkow’s research and writing brought this catalogue and exhibition to fruition. David Franklin
The Sarah S. and Alexander M. Cutler Director
Detail of cat. 7 (recto)
7
Greene had stipulated that any profits from the sale of the catalogue go to
funds for purchasing miniatures. Throughout his correspondence with the museum is this thread of future acquisitions, reinforcing his view of his gift as a seed that would be augmented over time. The museum bought a
number of important miniatures during the early 1950s, including Smart’s early Portrait of Constantine Phipps (cat. 28) and Cosway’s luxuriously set Portrait
of Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, later King of the French (cat. 68). An iconic Smart
self-portrait (cat. 34) came to Cleveland in 1953 after the Fitzwilliam Museum was unable to raise the financial resources to purchase it.
For tax purposes Greene’s miniature collection had been divided into
small groups and given to the museum in 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1949,
but it didn’t go on view at the CMA until 1951 (figs. 3, 4). The exhibition was hailed as “one of the most important events in the life of [the] thirty-five
year old Museum of Art” while Cleveland’s Plain Dealer publicized Greene’s 11
miniatures as “the finest private collection in America.”12 A decade after
the exhibition closed, without the stimulus of a collector and his gifts, the miniature collection languished—mythic among experts in the field but
22
Figure 3. From right to left, William
Figure 4. Gallery view of the 35th
Hollendonner, and John Mackenzie
Museum of Art, 20 June–23 September
Milliken, Henry Francis, Fred
surveying Edward Greene’s miniature collection in preparation for the 35th
Anniversary Exhibition, 19 February 1951.
Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Archives. Image used with permission of the Plain Dealer.
Anniversary Exhibition, the Cleveland
1951. The Cleveland Museum of Art
Archives, Records of the Photography Studio.
rarely on display in the galleries. The 1993 Intimate Images exhibition at the CMA was one notable exception (fig. 5). On view for over six months, the
show included nearly all of the British miniatures but provided neither a catalogue nor new research.
Private support for miniatures did not die with Edward Greene. His
daughter Helen Perry chose to honor her father’s passion by helping the
museum purchase Hilliard’s charming Portrait of Charles Howard, 2nd Baron
Howard of Effingham, later 1st Earl of Nottingham in 1960 (cat. 1). Several years
later she gave the CMA a group of Smart drawings that had presumably belonged to her father but hadn’t formed part of his gift. They included several large, finished portraits, which presented the museum with a
dilemma about how to conceive of them in relationship to the miniatures. The answer seems to have been not to display them at all. These drawings are presented here for the first time.
Most recently, the bequest of Muriel Butkin added eight important
miniatures, among them the museum’s first work by Alexander Cooper,
Portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia (cat. 13). Muriel
Collecting British Miniatures at the Cleveland Museum of Art
23
Greene had stipulated that any profits from the sale of the catalogue go to
funds for purchasing miniatures. Throughout his correspondence with the museum is this thread of future acquisitions, reinforcing his view of his gift as a seed that would be augmented over time. The museum bought a
number of important miniatures during the early 1950s, including Smart’s early Portrait of Constantine Phipps (cat. 28) and Cosway’s luxuriously set Portrait
of Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, later King of the French (cat. 68). An iconic Smart
self-portrait (cat. 34) came to Cleveland in 1953 after the Fitzwilliam Museum was unable to raise the financial resources to purchase it.
For tax purposes Greene’s miniature collection had been divided into
small groups and given to the museum in 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1949,
but it didn’t go on view at the CMA until 1951 (figs. 3, 4). The exhibition was hailed as “one of the most important events in the life of [the] thirty-five
year old Museum of Art” while Cleveland’s Plain Dealer publicized Greene’s 11
miniatures as “the finest private collection in America.”12 A decade after
the exhibition closed, without the stimulus of a collector and his gifts, the miniature collection languished—mythic among experts in the field but
22
Figure 3. From right to left, William
Figure 4. Gallery view of the 35th
Hollendonner, and John Mackenzie
Museum of Art, 20 June–23 September
Milliken, Henry Francis, Fred
surveying Edward Greene’s miniature collection in preparation for the 35th
Anniversary Exhibition, 19 February 1951.
Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Archives. Image used with permission of the Plain Dealer.
Anniversary Exhibition, the Cleveland
1951. The Cleveland Museum of Art
Archives, Records of the Photography Studio.
rarely on display in the galleries. The 1993 Intimate Images exhibition at the CMA was one notable exception (fig. 5). On view for over six months, the
show included nearly all of the British miniatures but provided neither a catalogue nor new research.
Private support for miniatures did not die with Edward Greene. His
daughter Helen Perry chose to honor her father’s passion by helping the
museum purchase Hilliard’s charming Portrait of Charles Howard, 2nd Baron
Howard of Effingham, later 1st Earl of Nottingham in 1960 (cat. 1). Several years
later she gave the CMA a group of Smart drawings that had presumably belonged to her father but hadn’t formed part of his gift. They included several large, finished portraits, which presented the museum with a
dilemma about how to conceive of them in relationship to the miniatures. The answer seems to have been not to display them at all. These drawings are presented here for the first time.
Most recently, the bequest of Muriel Butkin added eight important
miniatures, among them the museum’s first work by Alexander Cooper,
Portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia (cat. 13). Muriel
Collecting British Miniatures at the Cleveland Museum of Art
23
3
Portrait of Sir Anthony Mildmay, Knight of Apethorpe, Northants, c. 1590–93 Watercolor on vellum mounted on card, mounted on wood Rectangular, 23.3 × 17.4 cm (9 ⅛ × 6 ¾ in.) Signature: none
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1926.554
This striking portrait of Anthony Mildmay (c. 1549–1617), posed confi-
dently among the trappings of a gentleman courtier, reveals Hilliard at his most ambitious during the flowering of miniature painting in
Provenance
c. 1590/93–1617
Elizabethan England. Hilliard executed the work in the years before of the Exchequer of England, Anthony Mildmay was a member of
Parliament and prominent courtier of Queen Elizabeth I, who granted
Mary, Countess of Westmoreland (née Mildmay, d. 1640).
1617–40
him positions of great political influence.1 In this formal portrait he
pauses in the process of arming himself for the joust, conspicuously
displaying his fine, long legs, which will be clad in the armor lying at his beribboned feet. A striped, gold embroidered garment—probably the
doublet he was wearing—lies on the trunk. The peascod-style breastplate of Mildmay’s Greenwich-made armor tapers and protrudes at the groin, and it has strips of gilded steel—features that mimic the contemporary fashion of civilian doublets.2 On the table next to his dramatic ostrich-
plumed helmet lies an ornate wheel-lock pistol, which, along with the sheathed rapier he grips with his left hand, constitutes the weaponry
accorded to a gentleman of Mildmay’s status. The docile spaniel in the lower right corner models an attitude of submissiveness toward Mild-
may, who was probably in his forties and at the height of his career when this portrait was painted.
ground for an English gentleman at this time. Hilliard’s prowess at
1640–81
armor, on which the play of light and shadow are enhanced by the
addition of gold paint. The tent (or pavilion) was the private arena in
in rendering fine details and brilliant colors, he did not apply the
elegant and wooden. 38
Henry Fane; by inheritance to his
1726–77
Henry Fane; by inheritance to his daughter Mary Stapleton (née
Mary Stapleton; by inheritance to
her grandson Rev. Hon. Sir Francis
Jarvis Stapleton, 7th Bt. (1807–1874, Mereworth Rectory, Kent).
1835–74
Rev. Hon. Sir Francis Jarvis
Plantagenet Stapleton (1834–1899, Grey’s Court, Oxfordshire).
1874–99
Richard Talbot Plantagenet
Stapleton; by inheritance to his
son Sir Miles Talbot Stapleton, 9th
Purchased by the Cleveland
Museum of Art from Durlacher
Brothers for $6,540 on 21 December.
The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Exhibitions 1939–40
New York World’s Fair, Masterpieces
of Art, 30 April 1939–27 October 1940, no. 267.
1940
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Masterpieces of Art from the New York and San Francisco World’s Fair, 7 February–7 March, no. 49.
1947
Victoria and Albert Museum,
London, Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac
Oliver: An Exhibition to Commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the Birth of Nicholas Hilliard, 1 January–31 December, no. 57.
1956
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Art: The International Language, 2 October–4 November.
1983
Stapleton, 7th Bt.; by inheritance to his son Richard Talbot
(New York).
1926
Bt. (1727–1781, Grey’s Court, Oxford
Purchased by Durlacher Brothers
1926
wife of Sir Thomas Stapleton, 5th 1777–1835
at Christie’s (London) Stapleton
sale for 510 guineas on 11 May (lot 79).
Fane, c. 1744–1835, Oxfordshire), shire).
Purchased by S. J. Phillips (London)
1926
son Henry Fane (1703–1777, Wormsley, Oxfordshire).
Victoria and Albert Museum,
London, Artists of the Tudor Court: The Portrait Miniature Rediscovered,
1520–1620, 9 July–6 November, no. 264.
1993
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Intimate Images: Portrait Miniatures from Europe and America, 23 March–17 October.
Bt. (1893–?, Grey’s Court,
tic. Instead, there is an awkward spatial relationship between the tent incongruent angles, while Mildmay’s figure simultaneously appears
his son Henry Fane (1669–1726,
1691–1726
single-point perspective that would have made this scene more naturalisand the furniture, which recedes into the steeply graded background at
Sir Francis Fane; by inheritance to Brympton, Yeovil, Somerset).
was not actively participating in the competition, which might last
and was equipped and ornamented accordingly. While Hilliard excelled
his son Sir Francis Fane (d. 1691,
1681–91
which a gentleman armed himself for the tournament, or rested when he many days. It was therefore a temporary representation of his household
Sir Francis Fane; by inheritance to Henbury, Gloucestershire).
illustrating textures is evident in the red velvet of the chair and pillow, the billowing feathers, the stiff canvas tent, and the gleaming silver
by inheritance to her son Sir Lincolnshire).
often measured under 2 inches high, this larger format allowed the artist also to station him within the context of the tournament—a vital proving
Mary, Countess of Westmoreland; Francis Fane (d. 1681, Fulbeck,
Unlike Hilliard’s traditional bust-length portrait miniatures, which
not only to lavish attention on the sitter’s dress and accoutrements but
Apethorpe, Northants (c. 1549–1617); by inheritance to his daughter
Mildmay was knighted in 1596 and at the peak of the artist’s popularity at the English court. The son of the wealthy Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor
Sir Anthony Mildmay, Knight of
1926
Oxfordshire).
1899–?
Miles Talbot Stapleton, 9th Bt.
39
3
Portrait of Sir Anthony Mildmay, Knight of Apethorpe, Northants, c. 1590–93 Watercolor on vellum mounted on card, mounted on wood Rectangular, 23.3 × 17.4 cm (9 ⅛ × 6 ¾ in.) Signature: none
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1926.554
This striking portrait of Anthony Mildmay (c. 1549–1617), posed confi-
dently among the trappings of a gentleman courtier, reveals Hilliard at his most ambitious during the flowering of miniature painting in
Provenance
c. 1590/93–1617
Elizabethan England. Hilliard executed the work in the years before of the Exchequer of England, Anthony Mildmay was a member of
Parliament and prominent courtier of Queen Elizabeth I, who granted
Mary, Countess of Westmoreland (née Mildmay, d. 1640).
1617–40
him positions of great political influence.1 In this formal portrait he
pauses in the process of arming himself for the joust, conspicuously
displaying his fine, long legs, which will be clad in the armor lying at his beribboned feet. A striped, gold embroidered garment—probably the
doublet he was wearing—lies on the trunk. The peascod-style breastplate of Mildmay’s Greenwich-made armor tapers and protrudes at the groin, and it has strips of gilded steel—features that mimic the contemporary fashion of civilian doublets.2 On the table next to his dramatic ostrich-
plumed helmet lies an ornate wheel-lock pistol, which, along with the sheathed rapier he grips with his left hand, constitutes the weaponry
accorded to a gentleman of Mildmay’s status. The docile spaniel in the lower right corner models an attitude of submissiveness toward Mild-
may, who was probably in his forties and at the height of his career when this portrait was painted.
ground for an English gentleman at this time. Hilliard’s prowess at
1640–81
armor, on which the play of light and shadow are enhanced by the
addition of gold paint. The tent (or pavilion) was the private arena in
in rendering fine details and brilliant colors, he did not apply the
elegant and wooden. 38
Henry Fane; by inheritance to his
1726–77
Henry Fane; by inheritance to his daughter Mary Stapleton (née
Mary Stapleton; by inheritance to
her grandson Rev. Hon. Sir Francis
Jarvis Stapleton, 7th Bt. (1807–1874, Mereworth Rectory, Kent).
1835–74
Rev. Hon. Sir Francis Jarvis
Plantagenet Stapleton (1834–1899, Grey’s Court, Oxfordshire).
1874–99
Richard Talbot Plantagenet
Stapleton; by inheritance to his
son Sir Miles Talbot Stapleton, 9th
Purchased by the Cleveland
Museum of Art from Durlacher
Brothers for $6,540 on 21 December.
The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Exhibitions 1939–40
New York World’s Fair, Masterpieces
of Art, 30 April 1939–27 October 1940, no. 267.
1940
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Masterpieces of Art from the New York and San Francisco World’s Fair, 7 February–7 March, no. 49.
1947
Victoria and Albert Museum,
London, Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac
Oliver: An Exhibition to Commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the Birth of Nicholas Hilliard, 1 January–31 December, no. 57.
1956
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Art: The International Language, 2 October–4 November.
1983
Stapleton, 7th Bt.; by inheritance to his son Richard Talbot
(New York).
1926
Bt. (1727–1781, Grey’s Court, Oxford
Purchased by Durlacher Brothers
1926
wife of Sir Thomas Stapleton, 5th 1777–1835
at Christie’s (London) Stapleton
sale for 510 guineas on 11 May (lot 79).
Fane, c. 1744–1835, Oxfordshire), shire).
Purchased by S. J. Phillips (London)
1926
son Henry Fane (1703–1777, Wormsley, Oxfordshire).
Victoria and Albert Museum,
London, Artists of the Tudor Court: The Portrait Miniature Rediscovered,
1520–1620, 9 July–6 November, no. 264.
1993
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Intimate Images: Portrait Miniatures from Europe and America, 23 March–17 October.
Bt. (1893–?, Grey’s Court,
tic. Instead, there is an awkward spatial relationship between the tent incongruent angles, while Mildmay’s figure simultaneously appears
his son Henry Fane (1669–1726,
1691–1726
single-point perspective that would have made this scene more naturalisand the furniture, which recedes into the steeply graded background at
Sir Francis Fane; by inheritance to Brympton, Yeovil, Somerset).
was not actively participating in the competition, which might last
and was equipped and ornamented accordingly. While Hilliard excelled
his son Sir Francis Fane (d. 1691,
1681–91
which a gentleman armed himself for the tournament, or rested when he many days. It was therefore a temporary representation of his household
Sir Francis Fane; by inheritance to Henbury, Gloucestershire).
illustrating textures is evident in the red velvet of the chair and pillow, the billowing feathers, the stiff canvas tent, and the gleaming silver
by inheritance to her son Sir Lincolnshire).
often measured under 2 inches high, this larger format allowed the artist also to station him within the context of the tournament—a vital proving
Mary, Countess of Westmoreland; Francis Fane (d. 1681, Fulbeck,
Unlike Hilliard’s traditional bust-length portrait miniatures, which
not only to lavish attention on the sitter’s dress and accoutrements but
Apethorpe, Northants (c. 1549–1617); by inheritance to his daughter
Mildmay was knighted in 1596 and at the peak of the artist’s popularity at the English court. The son of the wealthy Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor
Sir Anthony Mildmay, Knight of
1926
Oxfordshire).
1899–?
Miles Talbot Stapleton, 9th Bt.
39
sacred subjects remain poorly understood and vary considerably. The best known is Head of Christ at the Victoria and Albert Museum (fig. 20), essen-
tially a portrait miniature in scale and setting. However, at the same time,
this work departs from the conventions of portrait miniatures with Christ’s downcast eyes, his robe, and the position of his head, which he turns over
the shoulder. Moreover, the technique—built through stippling—marks a complete rejection of Nicholas Hilliard’s (cats. 1–6) linear mode in favor of Northern Italian sfumato.
More abundant are Oliver’s religious drawings in pen and ink and wash,
most on a comparatively large scale. These works also often have a high level of finish, and the lack of corresponding paintings suggests that they were ends in themselves and not preparatory designs. Their subject matter varies from traditional biblical subjects (fig. 21) to devotional images (fig. 22), and they
were probably intended for private clients. The elegant artifice of many of these drawings stems from Continental mannerist traditions—elongated poses, elaborate hairstyles, compressed space, emotional restraint—which Oliver would have known both from his origins and subsequent travels on the
mainland as well as through the circulation of prints. Other drawings connect to more progressive, naturalistic advances in the visual arts in the early
seventeenth century, perhaps through the artist’s visit to Italy around 1610,
a theory first postulated by Roy Strong.2 Oliver also appears to have executed
copies in miniature of religious paintings in the Royal Collection.3
Madonna and Child in Glory departs from all of these precedents as a
finished, large-scale, original composition in watercolor on vellum.
Oliver consciously moved away from the mannerist style he used for most of his other religious subjects—including his other known representa-
Figure 20. Head of Christ, c. 1615. Isaac
Figure 21. The Adoration of the Magi.
4.3 cm (2 × 1 ⅝ in.). Victoria and Albert
and brown ink, heightened with
Oliver I. Watercolor on vellum; 5.3 ×
Museum, London. Image © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Isaac Oliver I. Brown wash, with pen white over graphite; 22.8 × 16.8 cm (9 × 6 ⅝ in.). British Museum, London. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved.
tions of Mary and the infant Christ (figs. 21, 22)—and this work does not relate to the standard language of early-seventeenth-century English
narrative painting. He sought an entirely new direction here, perhaps an approach related more to manuscript illumination and panel painting
than the highly finished presentation drawing, but nevertheless executed in the most progressive stylistic mode.
This miniature is probably the one referred to in a contemporary docu-
ment as a “Madonna of Mr. Oliver’s [that] cost him two years of his life.”4
Its patron and purpose remain unknown, although the work emerges from a deeply personal and highly intellectual approach to a standard Christian subject. The painting may have had an explicitly devotional purpose, or it might have been displayed in a cabinet with other works at this scale. The image’s complexity as well as its unusual theological and iconographical ideas—at odds with the religious and political demands of the Jacobean
court—suggest a work either executed by the artist as a private, personal
object 5 or coming out of a close relationship with an important client. For
a Huguenot painter in the English Protestant court to create such a prominent Catholic-themed work for his own use would be quite surprising.
Oliver worked directly for Anne of Denmark, the queen consort as wife of King James I, and her son, Henry, Prince of Wales. While Anne was
nominally Protestant, many believed her to hold Catholic sympathies, and she may have even been a convert.6 In this way, the work might convey
covert Catholic leanings and emerge from an inner circle of confidants
surrounding the queen, or it may even have been created for the monarch herself.7 Henry is a less likely client but certainly plausible, for his
voracious interest in Italianate Renaissance culture during his brief court of 1610–12 emcompassed sacred subjects. Furthermore, he helped reintroduce—albeit within a thoroughgoing Protestant mindset—the collecting
of art with religious subject matter, as the memory of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 began to fade.8 58
Isaac Oliver I
59
sacred subjects remain poorly understood and vary considerably. The best known is Head of Christ at the Victoria and Albert Museum (fig. 20), essen-
tially a portrait miniature in scale and setting. However, at the same time,
this work departs from the conventions of portrait miniatures with Christ’s downcast eyes, his robe, and the position of his head, which he turns over
the shoulder. Moreover, the technique—built through stippling—marks a complete rejection of Nicholas Hilliard’s (cats. 1–6) linear mode in favor of Northern Italian sfumato.
More abundant are Oliver’s religious drawings in pen and ink and wash,
most on a comparatively large scale. These works also often have a high level of finish, and the lack of corresponding paintings suggests that they were ends in themselves and not preparatory designs. Their subject matter varies from traditional biblical subjects (fig. 21) to devotional images (fig. 22), and they
were probably intended for private clients. The elegant artifice of many of these drawings stems from Continental mannerist traditions—elongated poses, elaborate hairstyles, compressed space, emotional restraint—which Oliver would have known both from his origins and subsequent travels on the
mainland as well as through the circulation of prints. Other drawings connect to more progressive, naturalistic advances in the visual arts in the early
seventeenth century, perhaps through the artist’s visit to Italy around 1610,
a theory first postulated by Roy Strong.2 Oliver also appears to have executed
copies in miniature of religious paintings in the Royal Collection.3
Madonna and Child in Glory departs from all of these precedents as a
finished, large-scale, original composition in watercolor on vellum.
Oliver consciously moved away from the mannerist style he used for most of his other religious subjects—including his other known representa-
Figure 20. Head of Christ, c. 1615. Isaac
Figure 21. The Adoration of the Magi.
4.3 cm (2 × 1 ⅝ in.). Victoria and Albert
and brown ink, heightened with
Oliver I. Watercolor on vellum; 5.3 ×
Museum, London. Image © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Isaac Oliver I. Brown wash, with pen white over graphite; 22.8 × 16.8 cm (9 × 6 ⅝ in.). British Museum, London. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved.
tions of Mary and the infant Christ (figs. 21, 22)—and this work does not relate to the standard language of early-seventeenth-century English
narrative painting. He sought an entirely new direction here, perhaps an approach related more to manuscript illumination and panel painting
than the highly finished presentation drawing, but nevertheless executed in the most progressive stylistic mode.
This miniature is probably the one referred to in a contemporary docu-
ment as a “Madonna of Mr. Oliver’s [that] cost him two years of his life.”4
Its patron and purpose remain unknown, although the work emerges from a deeply personal and highly intellectual approach to a standard Christian subject. The painting may have had an explicitly devotional purpose, or it might have been displayed in a cabinet with other works at this scale. The image’s complexity as well as its unusual theological and iconographical ideas—at odds with the religious and political demands of the Jacobean
court—suggest a work either executed by the artist as a private, personal
object 5 or coming out of a close relationship with an important client. For
a Huguenot painter in the English Protestant court to create such a prominent Catholic-themed work for his own use would be quite surprising.
Oliver worked directly for Anne of Denmark, the queen consort as wife of King James I, and her son, Henry, Prince of Wales. While Anne was
nominally Protestant, many believed her to hold Catholic sympathies, and she may have even been a convert.6 In this way, the work might convey
covert Catholic leanings and emerge from an inner circle of confidants
surrounding the queen, or it may even have been created for the monarch herself.7 Henry is a less likely client but certainly plausible, for his
voracious interest in Italianate Renaissance culture during his brief court of 1610–12 emcompassed sacred subjects. Furthermore, he helped reintroduce—albeit within a thoroughgoing Protestant mindset—the collecting
of art with religious subject matter, as the memory of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 began to fade.8 58
Isaac Oliver I
59
13 Alexander Cooper (English, 1609–1658 or later)
While there are numerous related portraits of this sitter, the distinc-
tive feature of this miniature by Hoskins is the large, falling collar. Its elaborate, scalloped lace versions tied at the neck and seen in several
Portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia, c. 1630s
V with a simple collar, Hoskins may have been departing from the
Watercolor on vellum
ultimately less emulated variant.
Signature: none
plain white linen, broad and simple, was distinguished from the
otherwise closely related portraits (figs. 32, 33). In representing Frederick transcription of a more elaborate portrait, creating a simpler and
Oval, 3.2 × 2.8 cm (1 ½ × 1 in.)
A similar portrait by Alexander Cooper (cat. 13) of Frederick V at
Setting: original blue, white, and black enamel locket with gold;
approximately the same date belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch (fig. 32).4
enamel mount
Bequest of Muriel Butkin, 2008.292
Cooper was probably trained in his maturity by Peter Oliver (c. 1594–1647), but he spent a great deal of time in the studio of Hoskins, his uncle.
Cooper spent part of the 1630s in Holland but lived in London for several
years and was close enough to Hoskins that they would have been aware of their mutual occupation with portraits of Frederick V, who never
visited England. Apart from its smaller size, Cooper’s portrait differs
Younger brother of the renowned miniaturist Samuel Cooper (cats. 15–17),
from the Cleveland version primarily in terms of costume and is one of
Alexander also received training in miniature painting at an early age,
many representations of Frederick V’s family painted by Hoskins and by
first with his uncle John Hoskins (cats. 11–12) and then with Peter Oliver
Cooper and his brother Samuel (cats. 15–17).5 The Cleveland Museum of Art
(c. 1594–1647).2 Alexander spent much of his career abroad, first visiting
also owns a miniature by Alexander Cooper of Frederick’s wife, Elizabeth
the Hague between 1631 and 1633, then returning to England for some
Stuart (cat. 13).
years, before living again in the Hague from 1644–46 and in Stockholm
Related miniatures of Frederick V were reproduced in a variety of sizes
perspicacity, innovative compositions, and fluid brushwork of his brother
Buccleuch miniature (fig. 33).
finish and their austerity. His works are not well known partly because
Schidlof stated that this miniature was
among the items sold in the Christie’s,
Samuel. Instead, Alexander’s works are celebrated for their delicacy of many of his productive years were spent in Holland and Sweden, and
September 1948 and 10 October 1948, as
none of his miniatures conclusively represent work executed in England.
4 Stephen Lloyd, Portrait Miniatures from the
falls loosely to her sloping shoulders, with the top-most portion drawn
Collection of the Duke of Buccleuch (Edinburgh:
1926.
79, no. 31.
large drop pearl earrings, and a black gown with a plunging neckline
Bohemia, by Alexander Cooper is in the
jeweled brooch. The figure is set against a plain, brownish-gold back-
2
It is difficult to state with certainty what
the original model is. Miniature portraits of Frederick V wearing armor and a white
collar, dating from about 1630, are related to oil paintings by Gerrit van Honthorst and others. This may be a composition that originally occurred in miniature. 3
According to correspondence dated 27
into a bun encircled with pearls. She wears a translucent pearl choker,
Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1996), p. 5
trimmed in white and ornamented in the center with a floriated gold,
Another portrait of Frederick V, King of
Royal Collection, measuring 1.2 by 1
ground. The unsigned miniature is set in an enamel mount in the small
centimeters (½ by ⅜ inches) and dated
Paul Davidsohn (Berlin) sale for
600DRM on 27–28 November (lot 57).1
1924–53
Ernst Reinhardt (c. 1881–1953,
Berlin, Lugano, and Riverdale, NY); by inheritance to his wife, Feodora Reinhardt (1890–1974, Berlin, Lugano, and Riverdale, NY).
1953–74
Feodora Reinhardt.
The Norton Gallery (New York);
by 1975
Elizabeth Stuart appears bust length, facing left. Her dark brown hair
documented in the CMA curatorial file.
London, Brownlow sale of May 1923 or the
Sotheby’s, London, Brownlow sale of April
from 1647–54. Alexander Cooper’s miniatures lack the psychological
Victoria and Albert Museum, which corresponds closely to Cooper’s
in the Brownlow collection, but it was not
1924
3
and materials, including an enamel variant by an unknown artist in the
1
Provenance
purchased by Noah L. Butkin
(1918–1980, Shaker Heights, OH)
from the Norton Gallery for $1,500
1980–2008
Muriel Butkin; upon her death, held in trust by the estate.
2008
The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Exhibitions None.
Bibliography
Korkow, Cory. “Small Wonders: A gift of portrait miniatures yields
charming surprises.” Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 51, no. 1 (January/ February 2011): pp. 8–9.
on 10 February 1975.
1975–80
Noah L. Butkin; by inheritance to
his wife, Muriel Butkin (1915–2008, Shaker Heights, OH).
locket format typical of the period. The ground is cerulean, with the
around 1632 (RCIN 422346). Graham
sitter’s monogram—ES—surmounted by a crown in white and gold.
Reynolds, The Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century
The Butkins purchased the portrait believing it to be Queen Christina of
Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen (London: Royal Collection, 1999), p. 150.
Sweden, who employed Cooper between 1647 and 1654. Instead, it depicts
Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine, and Queen of Bohemia (1596–1662), for Figure 32. Portrait of Frederick V, King of
Figure 33. Portrait of Frederick V, King of
whom Cooper painted a remarkable series of portraits in 1632 and 1633.
Alexander Cooper (British, 1609–1658
Unknown artist. Enamel on metal;
married Frederick V, Elector Palatine (cat. 12), in 1613 and was the queen of
Bohemia and Elector Palatine , c. 1630. or later). Watercolor on vellum;
h. 6.8 cm (2 ⅝ in.). Duke of Buccleuch.
Reproduced by kind permission of the Duke of Buccleuch & Queensbury KBE.
Bohemia and Elector Palatine, early 1600s. 4.3 × 3.4 cm (1 ⅝ × 1 ⅜ in.). Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Image ©
Elizabeth was the daughter of King James I and sister of King Charles I. She Bohemia briefly from 1619 until their exile to the Hague in 1621.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Cat. 13
78
Alexander Cooper
79
13 Alexander Cooper (English, 1609–1658 or later)
While there are numerous related portraits of this sitter, the distinc-
tive feature of this miniature by Hoskins is the large, falling collar. Its elaborate, scalloped lace versions tied at the neck and seen in several
Portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia, c. 1630s
V with a simple collar, Hoskins may have been departing from the
Watercolor on vellum
ultimately less emulated variant.
Signature: none
plain white linen, broad and simple, was distinguished from the
otherwise closely related portraits (figs. 32, 33). In representing Frederick transcription of a more elaborate portrait, creating a simpler and
Oval, 3.2 × 2.8 cm (1 ½ × 1 in.)
A similar portrait by Alexander Cooper (cat. 13) of Frederick V at
Setting: original blue, white, and black enamel locket with gold;
approximately the same date belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch (fig. 32).4
enamel mount
Bequest of Muriel Butkin, 2008.292
Cooper was probably trained in his maturity by Peter Oliver (c. 1594–1647), but he spent a great deal of time in the studio of Hoskins, his uncle.
Cooper spent part of the 1630s in Holland but lived in London for several
years and was close enough to Hoskins that they would have been aware of their mutual occupation with portraits of Frederick V, who never
visited England. Apart from its smaller size, Cooper’s portrait differs
Younger brother of the renowned miniaturist Samuel Cooper (cats. 15–17),
from the Cleveland version primarily in terms of costume and is one of
Alexander also received training in miniature painting at an early age,
many representations of Frederick V’s family painted by Hoskins and by
first with his uncle John Hoskins (cats. 11–12) and then with Peter Oliver
Cooper and his brother Samuel (cats. 15–17).5 The Cleveland Museum of Art
(c. 1594–1647).2 Alexander spent much of his career abroad, first visiting
also owns a miniature by Alexander Cooper of Frederick’s wife, Elizabeth
the Hague between 1631 and 1633, then returning to England for some
Stuart (cat. 13).
years, before living again in the Hague from 1644–46 and in Stockholm
Related miniatures of Frederick V were reproduced in a variety of sizes
perspicacity, innovative compositions, and fluid brushwork of his brother
Buccleuch miniature (fig. 33).
finish and their austerity. His works are not well known partly because
Schidlof stated that this miniature was
among the items sold in the Christie’s,
Samuel. Instead, Alexander’s works are celebrated for their delicacy of many of his productive years were spent in Holland and Sweden, and
September 1948 and 10 October 1948, as
none of his miniatures conclusively represent work executed in England.
4 Stephen Lloyd, Portrait Miniatures from the
falls loosely to her sloping shoulders, with the top-most portion drawn
Collection of the Duke of Buccleuch (Edinburgh:
1926.
79, no. 31.
large drop pearl earrings, and a black gown with a plunging neckline
Bohemia, by Alexander Cooper is in the
jeweled brooch. The figure is set against a plain, brownish-gold back-
2
It is difficult to state with certainty what
the original model is. Miniature portraits of Frederick V wearing armor and a white
collar, dating from about 1630, are related to oil paintings by Gerrit van Honthorst and others. This may be a composition that originally occurred in miniature. 3
According to correspondence dated 27
into a bun encircled with pearls. She wears a translucent pearl choker,
Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1996), p. 5
trimmed in white and ornamented in the center with a floriated gold,
Another portrait of Frederick V, King of
Royal Collection, measuring 1.2 by 1
ground. The unsigned miniature is set in an enamel mount in the small
centimeters (½ by ⅜ inches) and dated
Paul Davidsohn (Berlin) sale for
600DRM on 27–28 November (lot 57).1
1924–53
Ernst Reinhardt (c. 1881–1953,
Berlin, Lugano, and Riverdale, NY); by inheritance to his wife, Feodora Reinhardt (1890–1974, Berlin, Lugano, and Riverdale, NY).
1953–74
Feodora Reinhardt.
The Norton Gallery (New York);
by 1975
Elizabeth Stuart appears bust length, facing left. Her dark brown hair
documented in the CMA curatorial file.
London, Brownlow sale of May 1923 or the
Sotheby’s, London, Brownlow sale of April
from 1647–54. Alexander Cooper’s miniatures lack the psychological
Victoria and Albert Museum, which corresponds closely to Cooper’s
in the Brownlow collection, but it was not
1924
3
and materials, including an enamel variant by an unknown artist in the
1
Provenance
purchased by Noah L. Butkin
(1918–1980, Shaker Heights, OH)
from the Norton Gallery for $1,500
1980–2008
Muriel Butkin; upon her death, held in trust by the estate.
2008
The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Exhibitions None.
Bibliography
Korkow, Cory. “Small Wonders: A gift of portrait miniatures yields
charming surprises.” Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 51, no. 1 (January/ February 2011): pp. 8–9.
on 10 February 1975.
1975–80
Noah L. Butkin; by inheritance to
his wife, Muriel Butkin (1915–2008, Shaker Heights, OH).
locket format typical of the period. The ground is cerulean, with the
around 1632 (RCIN 422346). Graham
sitter’s monogram—ES—surmounted by a crown in white and gold.
Reynolds, The Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century
The Butkins purchased the portrait believing it to be Queen Christina of
Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen (London: Royal Collection, 1999), p. 150.
Sweden, who employed Cooper between 1647 and 1654. Instead, it depicts
Elizabeth Stuart, Electress Palatine, and Queen of Bohemia (1596–1662), for Figure 32. Portrait of Frederick V, King of
Figure 33. Portrait of Frederick V, King of
whom Cooper painted a remarkable series of portraits in 1632 and 1633.
Alexander Cooper (British, 1609–1658
Unknown artist. Enamel on metal;
married Frederick V, Elector Palatine (cat. 12), in 1613 and was the queen of
Bohemia and Elector Palatine , c. 1630. or later). Watercolor on vellum;
h. 6.8 cm (2 ⅝ in.). Duke of Buccleuch.
Reproduced by kind permission of the Duke of Buccleuch & Queensbury KBE.
Bohemia and Elector Palatine, early 1600s. 4.3 × 3.4 cm (1 ⅝ × 1 ⅜ in.). Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Image ©
Elizabeth was the daughter of King James I and sister of King Charles I. She Bohemia briefly from 1619 until their exile to the Hague in 1621.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Cat. 13
78
Alexander Cooper
79
20 Peter Cross (English, c. 1645–1724) Portrait of a Woman in Blue, c. 1700 Watercolor on vellum
Oval, 9.2 × 7.3 cm (3 ⅝ × 2 ⅞ in.)
Signature: at right: PC [in monogram]
Setting: original stained ivory frame
The Edward B. Greene Collection, 1941.554
Living in London, the youngest of seven children, Peter Cross was
probably apprenticed to a limner following the death of his wealthy
father. His first miniatures date from around 1661, and he remained 2
active until his death, ushering the medium into the eighteenth cen-
tury; the greatest British miniaturists working during his lifetime— Samuel Cooper (cats. 15–17), John Hoskins (cats. 11–12), Nicholas Dixon
(cat. 19), Thomas Flatman (1635–1688), Richard Gibson (cat. 14)—all had
Provenance By 1875
exclusively used the older medium of vellum adhered to card. The artist
was also an avid collector, assembling an impressive group of miniatures that included at least twelve works by his neighbor Samuel Cooper. This collection was sold in 1722 at Cross’s house in Covent Garden.
Cross’s style is distinguished by a fine stippling of colors that combine
to create soft, voluminous hair and pale flesh tones. His later works tend
7th Earl of Shaftesbury (1801–1885,
inheritance to her son, Humphrey Wyndham Cook (1893–1978).
1925
Sir Francis Cook, 1st Baronet
1925–28
(1817–1901, Richmond, England, and Sintra, Portugal); by
Humphrey Wyndham Cook.
Purchased by Leo Schidlof
Francis Cook (1860–1905, London).
1901–5
Wyndham Francis Cook; by
inheritance to his wife, Frederica
(1886–1966, Paris) at Christie’s
(London) Cook sale for £47.50 on 9
inheritance to his son, Wyndham
Frederica Evelyn Stillwell Cook; by
Wimborne St. Giles, Dorset).
By 1889
died or ceased to work by 1700. Although ivory had been adopted as a
support for British miniature painting a decade before his death, Cross
Possibly Anthony Ashley-Cooper,
1905–25
July (lot 319).1
1928–41
Evelyn Stillwell Cook (née
Purchased by Edward B. Greene (1878–1957, Cleveland) from Leo Schidlof for £100 ($500) on 6
Freeland, died 1925, London).
September; gift to the Cleveland
Museum of Art, 5 December 1941.
1941
The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Cat. 20
108
109
20 Peter Cross (English, c. 1645–1724) Portrait of a Woman in Blue, c. 1700 Watercolor on vellum
Oval, 9.2 × 7.3 cm (3 ⅝ × 2 ⅞ in.)
Signature: at right: PC [in monogram]
Setting: original stained ivory frame
The Edward B. Greene Collection, 1941.554
Living in London, the youngest of seven children, Peter Cross was
probably apprenticed to a limner following the death of his wealthy
father. His first miniatures date from around 1661, and he remained 2
active until his death, ushering the medium into the eighteenth cen-
tury; the greatest British miniaturists working during his lifetime— Samuel Cooper (cats. 15–17), John Hoskins (cats. 11–12), Nicholas Dixon
(cat. 19), Thomas Flatman (1635–1688), Richard Gibson (cat. 14)—all had
Provenance By 1875
exclusively used the older medium of vellum adhered to card. The artist
was also an avid collector, assembling an impressive group of miniatures that included at least twelve works by his neighbor Samuel Cooper. This collection was sold in 1722 at Cross’s house in Covent Garden.
Cross’s style is distinguished by a fine stippling of colors that combine
to create soft, voluminous hair and pale flesh tones. His later works tend
7th Earl of Shaftesbury (1801–1885,
inheritance to her son, Humphrey Wyndham Cook (1893–1978).
1925
Sir Francis Cook, 1st Baronet
1925–28
(1817–1901, Richmond, England, and Sintra, Portugal); by
Humphrey Wyndham Cook.
Purchased by Leo Schidlof
Francis Cook (1860–1905, London).
1901–5
Wyndham Francis Cook; by
inheritance to his wife, Frederica
(1886–1966, Paris) at Christie’s
(London) Cook sale for £47.50 on 9
inheritance to his son, Wyndham
Frederica Evelyn Stillwell Cook; by
Wimborne St. Giles, Dorset).
By 1889
died or ceased to work by 1700. Although ivory had been adopted as a
support for British miniature painting a decade before his death, Cross
Possibly Anthony Ashley-Cooper,
1905–25
July (lot 319).1
1928–41
Evelyn Stillwell Cook (née
Purchased by Edward B. Greene (1878–1957, Cleveland) from Leo Schidlof for £100 ($500) on 6
Freeland, died 1925, London).
September; gift to the Cleveland
Museum of Art, 5 December 1941.
1941
The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Cat. 20
108
109