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

Isaac Oliver ( – bur. 2 October 1617) or Olivier was an English

portrait miniature A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting from Renaissance art, usually executed in gouache, Watercolor painting, watercolor, or Vitreous enamel, enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illumin ...

painter.

Life and work

Born in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

around 1565, he moved to London in 1568 with his

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

parents Peter and Epiphany Oliver to escape the Wars of Religion in France. He then studied miniature painting under Nicholas Hilliard; and developed a naturalistic style, which was largely influenced by Italian and Flemish 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 () and his wife Susannah de Critz. Susannah was the daughter of Troilus de Critz, a

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

from Antwerp, and close relative of

John de Critz John de Critz or John Decritz (1551/2 – 14 March 1642 (buried)) was one of a number of painters of Flemish origin active at the English royal court during the reigns of James I of England and Charles I of England. He held the post of Serjean ...

, the Queen's Serjeant-Painter. She was also the eldest sister or cousin of Magdalen de Critz, who married Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (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. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, 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. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

and Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. He accompanied Anne of Denmark on her progresses in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Kent in 1605, and was appointed "her Majesties painter in the art of lymning". Jemma Field, ''Anna of Denmark: The Material and Visual Culture of the Stuart Courts'' (Manchester, 2020), p. 162. Oliver died in London in 1617 and was buried at the church of

St Ann Blackfriars St Ann Blackfriars was a church in the City of London, in what is now Ireland Yard in the ward of Farringdon Within. The church began as a medieval parish chapel, dedicated to St Ann, within the church of the Dominicans (the order after whom ...

, which was destroyed in the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

. Some of his work is housed in

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. Some of his pen drawings are located in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

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) Knight of the Bath, KB (3 March 1583 – 5 August 1648) was an English people, English soldier, diplomat, historian, poet and religious philosopher. He studied multiple languages and ...

File:Oliver Richard Sackville Earl of Dorset 1616.jpg, Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, cabinet miniature, 1616 File:Isaac Oliver Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses.jpg, Elizabeth I and the three Goddesses Juno,

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

References

External links