"Nicholas Hilliard secured his place as the queen's favorite portraitist by creating tiny, exquisitely detailed images in watercolor on vellum. Most of these miniatures, painted with a brush made out of squirrel hairs set in a bird quill and mounted on a wooden stick, are about the size of a jam jar lid."
"Because of their size, miniatures had the great virtue of being portable. Thus, in an era long before the invention of photography—much less the instantly communicable imagery of the cellphone—miniatures helped create intimacy across great distances. Unsurprisingly, husbands and wives, fiancés and fiancées, and illicit lovers frequently traded such portraits."
"Born in Exeter, in the west of England, around 1547, Hilliard was the first native-born English artist to achieve international fame. In addition to portraying Elizabeth, the so-called Virgin Queen, on multiple occasions, Hilliard painted virtually everybody who was anybody in late 16th- and early 17th-century England."
Nicholas Hilliard, born in Exeter around 1547, became Elizabeth I's favorite portraitist by creating tiny, detailed watercolor miniatures on vellum using squirrel hair brushes. These portraits, often fingernail-sized or smaller, depicted Elizabeth and virtually every significant figure in late 16th and early 17th-century England. Hilliard achieved international fame, earning praise from poets like John Donne and attracting royal admirers across Europe including the Medici, Valois, and Habsburgs. The portability of miniatures made them valuable for maintaining intimacy across distances and for diplomatic purposes, particularly in marriage negotiations. High-ranking patrons often had miniatures mounted in elaborate jewelry for wearing.
Read at Smithsonian Magazine
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