Nicholas Hilliard

Nicholas Hilliard was the son of an Exeter goldsmith and trained as a goldsmith and jeweller in London before becoming limner, or miniature painter, to Elizabeth I and then James I. His small oval portraits, delicate and full of symbolism, became the defining image of the Elizabethan court. He also wrote a treatise on the art of limning. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds many of his miniatures, including Young Man among Roses, and the National Portrait Gallery has his Phoenix and Pelican portraits of the Queen.