In the Tudor Era, miniatures were private images, meant to be shared with intimate friends. They were often exchanged, and often worn on chains or hung from brooches.Hilliard, while not on the court payroll initially, found great favor with Queen Elizabeth for his portraits of her. In fact, he was commissioned to create her 'official likeness' on which all subsequent portraits were to be based.
This miniature is ablaze with color and, according to Historian Horace Walpole, those features "which everybody knows at once [in] pictures of Queen Elizabeth."
The miniature, painted in the traditional style using traditional materials arrives in a 2.5" circular gold-metal frame with a pendant loop.
