Isaac Oliver - Young Man Seated under a Tree - Google Art Project

Isaac Oliver (c. 1565 – bur. 2 October 1617) or Olivier was an English portrait miniature painter.Baskett, John. ''Paul Mellon's legacy: a passion for British art'' (Yale University Press, 2007) pp. 240-1.

Life and work

Born in Rouen, he moved to London in 1568 with his

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

parents Peter and Epiphany Oliver to escape the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

in France. He then studied miniature painting under

Nicholas Hilliard Nicholas Hilliard () 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, ...

; and developed a naturalistic style, which was largely influenced by Italian and

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

art. His first wife, Elizabeth, died in 1599. With her he fathered Peter Oliver, who was also eminent in miniature painting. In 1602, he married Sara, daughter of the well-known portrait painter Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder (c. 1520 – c. 1590) and his wife Susannah de Critz. Susannah was the daughter of Troilus de Critz, a

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

from Antwerp, and close relative of John de Critz, the Queen's

Serjeant-Painter The Serjeant Painter was an honourable and lucrative position as court painter with the English monarch. It carried with it the prerogative of painting and gilding all of the King's residences, coaches, banners, etc. and it grossed over £1,000 ...

. She was also the eldest sister or cousin of Magdalen de Critz, who married

Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger Marcus Gheeraerts (also written as Gerards or Geerards; 1561/62 – 19 January 1636) was a Flemish artist working at the Tudor court, described as "the most important artist of quality to work in England in large-scale between Eworth and van ...

(1562–1635). After the death of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

, he became a painter of James I's court, painting numerous portraits of the queen

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...

and Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. Some of his work is housed in

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

. Some of his pen drawings are located in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

Gallery

Portrait miniatures

File:Portrait of a Young Gentleman (Sir Philip Sydney) by Isaac Oliver.jpg, Portrait of a Young Gentleman (possibly Sir Philip Sydney), 1605 File:Isaac Oliver unknown woman in masque costume 1609.jpg, Unknown Woman in Masque Costume, 1609 File:Philip_Herbert,_Fourth_Earl_of_Pembroke_(Oliver,_1611).jpg, Philip Herbert, Fourth Earl of Pembroke, 1611 File:Charles, Prince of Wales (later Charles I) by Isaac Oliver.jpg, Charles I as Prince of Wales, 1615

Larger works

File:Edward Herbert 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury by Isaac Oliver.jpg,

Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury (or Chirbury) KB (3 March 1583 – 5 August 1648) was an English soldier, diplomat, historian, poet and religious philosopher of the Kingdom of England. Life Early life Edward Herbert was the ...

File:Oliver Richard Sackville Earl of Dorset 1616.jpg,

Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset (18 March 1589 – 28 March 1624) was the eldest surviving son of Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset, by his first wife, Margaret, a daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. Born at Charterhouse, London, Sackville ...

, cabinet miniature, 1616 File:Isaac Oliver Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses.jpg, Elizabeth I and the three Goddesses Juno,

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Rom ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

References

External links