Cathy's Art Diary

Fascinating international conference at the National Portrait Gallery jointly organised with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and the University of Cambridge looking at new research into the miniature of Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver. The two day conference complimented the current superb exhibition at the Gallery and consisted of 18 academic papers in seven sessions plus a keynote lecture. There was a fascinating array of topics and I particularly liked the ones looking at the attribution of a picture or the identification of the sitter. It was interesting to hear about other artists working in this field and an ongoing debate as to how many ‘diverse others’ there were. Hilliard claims to have taught many people but can we see their hands in the work? Another ongoing discussion centred around whether the playing cards which were used as the support for the paintings were chosen with specific subjects in mind such as the Ace of Diamonds for royalty. ...

Fabulous exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery looking at portrait miniatures by Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver. This show displays these small jewel like items really well and manages to pace the show well despite the crowds with magnifying glasses thronging the display cases. It leads you around in a chronological narrative with gentle themes woven into that. The show gives you a picture of the lives of these two artists and of the courts they worked for. As ever with shows showing a generation of sitters you come away with lots of stores to look up. I loved the section on Hilliards trip to France including a never shown before portrait by him of Henry III and the twin portraits in big of Elizabeth I and Sir Amyas Paulet, the English Ambassador to Paris, which are thought to have hung in his studio in Paris. There was also a good section on images of Elizabeth and how these were controlled. I loved seeing Oliver’s wonderful detailed drawing of her which was use...