Rediscovered Elizabethan portrait may have been love token for Sir Walter Raleigh

[Still Waters]

A previously unknown 1580s portrait by Queen Elizabeth I’s official painter has been discovered after languishing for hundreds of years in a private collection.

Art experts hailed the “wonderful” discovery of a miniature by Nicholas Hilliard, which has come to light just as Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and all things Tudor are gripping the nation once again.

At 58mm (2.5in) in height, the oval portrait fits in the palm of one’s hand. Painted around 1585, it depicts a richly dressed young woman, thought to be Elizabeth, Lady Leighton, one of Elizabeth I’s ladies-in-waiting, who captivated Sir Walter Raleigh.

Hilliard was the great English painter of the Renaissance, appointed as the queen’s official limner, or miniature painter, creating numerous portraits of her and members of her court. His exquisite, intimate miniatures are among the most revered masterpieces of European art.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/dec/01/rediscovered-elizabethan-portrait-may-have-been-love-token-for-sir-walter-raleigh