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68-534: Nicholas Hilliard ( c.  1547 – 7 January 1619) 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 , up to about 10 inches (25 centimetres) tall, and at least two famous half-length panel portraits of Elizabeth. He enjoyed continuing success as an artist, and continuing financial troubles, for forty-five years. His paintings still exemplify

136-505: A noble metal —because it does not react with most elements. It usually is found in its native form, lasting indefinitely without oxidization and tarnishing. Gold has been worked by humans in all cultures where the metal is available, either indigenously or imported, and the history of these activities is extensive. Superbly made objects from the ancient cultures of Africa , Asia , Europe , India , North America , Mesoamerica , and South America grace museums and collections throughout

204-420: A New Year's day gift in 1584, Hilliard presented Queen Elizabeth with a picture of the story of five wise and foolish virgins. He was in high favour with James I as well as with Elizabeth, receiving from the king a special patent of appointment, dated 5 May 1617, granting him a sole licence for royal portraits in engraved form for twelve years; he had already been producing these, although probably usually using

272-603: A bed of excrement . The King's favourite Piers Gaveston is a "night-grown mushrump" (mushroom) to his enemies in Christopher Marlowe 's Edward II . Their falls could be even more sudden, but after about 1650, executions tended to give way to quiet retirement. Favourites who came from the higher nobility, such as Leicester , Lerma , Olivares , and Oxenstierna , were often less resented and lasted longer. Successful minister-favourites also usually needed networks of their own favourites and relatives to help them carry out

340-598: A certain amount of danger for the participants. There were many English plays on the subject; amongst the best known are Marlowe's Edward II , in which Piers Gaveston is a leading character, and Sejanus His Fall (1603), for which Ben Jonson was called before the Privy Council , accused of "Popery and treason", as the play was claimed by his enemies to contain allusions to the contemporary court of James I of England . Sejanus , whose career in Ancient Rome under Tiberius

408-556: A clergyman. Hilliard may have been a close relative of Grace Hiller (Hilliar), first wife of Theophilus Eaton (1590–1657), the co-founder of New Haven Colony in America . He appears to have been attached at a young age to the household of the leading Exeter Protestant John Bodley, the father of Thomas Bodley who founded the Bodleian Library in Oxford . John Bodley went into exile on

476-493: A coup against the younger Cecil . Cardinal Wolsey was one figure who rose through the administrative hierarchy, lived extremely ostentatiously, then fell suddenly from power. In the Middle Ages in particular, many royal favourites were promoted in the church, English examples including Saints Dunstan and Thomas Becket ; Bishops William Waynflete , Robert Burnell and Walter Reynolds . Cardinal Granvelle , like his father,

544-584: A courtier, Thomas Lyte, in 1610. The Armada Jewel , given by Elizabeth to Sir Thomas Heneage and the Drake Pendant given to Sir Francis Drake are the best known examples. As part of the cult of the Virgin Queen , courtiers were rather expected to wear the Queen's likeness, at least at Court. Elizabeth had her own collection of miniatures, kept locked in a cabinet in her bedroom, wrapped in paper and labelled, with

612-449: A favourite in the usual sense, although his relationship with Charles became very close. He was also from a well-established family, with powerful relations. After several years in power, Strafford was impeached by a Parliament now very hostile to him. When that process failed, it passed a bill of attainder for his execution without trial, and it put enough pressure on Charles that, to his subsequent regret, Charles signed it, and Strafford

680-706: A piece of money of the lords and ladies here for his better maintenance in England at his return", carefully reported the English Ambassador in Paris , Sir Amyas Paulet , with whom Hilliard stayed for much of the time. Francis Bacon was attached to the embassy, and Hilliard did a miniature of him in Paris. He remained until 1578–79, mixing in the artistic circles round the court, staying with Germain Pilon and George of Ghent , respectively

748-605: A rising politician under Elizabeth I: It is a strange thing to observe, how high a rate great kings and monarchs do set upon this fruit of friendship, whereof we speak: So great, as they purchase it, many times, at the hazard of their own safety and greatness. For princes, in regard of the distance of their fortune from that of their subjects and servants, cannot gather this fruit, except (to make themselves capable thereof) they raise some persons to be, as it were, companions and almost equals to themselves, which many times sorteth to inconvenience. The modern languages give unto such persons

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816-565: A scheme, or perhaps scam, for gold-mining in Scotland, which he still remembered bitterly twenty-five years later. During a low point in his finances, in July 1601 Hilliard wrote to the Secretary of State Robert Cecil acknowledging the annuity of £40, but asking permission to retire from London and live more cheaply in the countryside. He explained that he had trained apprentices who now competed with him in

884-549: A skill level that was lost and remained beyond the skills of those who followed, even to modern times. Researchers attempting to uncover the chemical techniques used by ancient artisans have remarked that their findings confirm that "the high level of competence reached by the artists and craftsmen of these ancient periods who produced objects of an artistic quality that could not be bettered in ancient times and has not yet been reached in modern ones." In medieval Europe goldsmiths were organized into guilds and usually were one of

952-407: Is malleable , ductile , rare, and it is the only solid metallic element with a yellow color . It may easily be melted, fused, and cast without the problems of oxides and gas that are problematic with other metals such as bronzes , for example. It is fairly easy to "pressure weld", wherein, similarly to clay, two small pieces may be pounded together to make one larger piece. Gold is classified as

1020-478: Is a term mostly reserved for a person who deals in jewellery (buys and sells) and not to be confused with a goldsmith, silversmith, gemologist, diamond cutter, and diamond setters. A 'jobbing jeweller' is the term for a jeweller who undertakes a small basic amount of jewellery repair and alteration. Favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe , among other times and places,

1088-496: Is a world away from that of the early- Baroque Italian artists of his time, or his close contemporary El Greco (1541–1614). In the Art of Limning he cautioned against all but the minimal use of chiaroscuro modelling that we see in his works, reflecting the views of his patron Elizabeth: "seeing that best to show oneself needeth no shadow of place but rather the open light ... Her Majesty .. chose her place to sit for that purpose in

1156-422: Is not clear to what extent Hilliard was given similar studies. Hilliard painted a portrait of himself at the age of 13 in 1560 and is said to have executed one of Mary, Queen of Scots , when he was eighteen years old. Hilliard apprenticed himself to the Queen's jeweller Robert Brandon (d. 1591), a goldsmith and city chamberlain of London, and Sir Roy Strong suggests that Hilliard may also have been trained in

1224-428: Is testified to by John Donne , who in a poem called The Storm (1597) praises the work of this artist. He died on 7 January 1619 and was buried in the church of St Martins-in-the-Fields , Westminster , leaving in his will twenty shillings to the poor of the parish, thirty between his two sisters, some goods to his maidservant, and all the rest of his effects to his son, Lawrence Hilliard, his sole executor. By far

1292-470: The Bodleian Library . Although it was once believed that the author of that treatise was John de Critz , Serjeant Painter to James I, from instructions by Hilliard for the benefit of one of his pupils, perhaps Isaac Oliver, more recent scholarship holds that the Art "can be dated rather closely and established convincingly" as the work of Hilliard. The masters mentioned in The Art of Limning are Hans Holbein

1360-605: The Middle Ages , goldsmithing normally included silversmithing as well, but the brass workers and workers in other base metals normally were members of a separate guild, since the trades were not allowed to overlap. Many jewelers also were goldsmiths. The Sunar caste is one of the oldest communities in goldsmithing in India, whose superb gold artworks were displayed at The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. In India, ' Daivadnya Brahmins ', Vishwakarma (Viswabrahmins, Acharis) ' Sunar ' are

1428-536: The Scottish nobles revolted against him and hanged him and other low-born favourites of James III of Scotland . Melchior Klesl , minister-favourite of Emperor Matthias (1609-1618) and cardinal, was the son of a Protestant baker in Vienna. Olivier le Daim , the barber of Louis XI , acquired a title and important military commands before he was executed on vague charges brought by nobles shortly after his master died, without

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1496-506: The 1570s of £1 for a head-and-shoulders portrait and £5 for a full-length. A portrait of the Earl of Northumberland cost £3 in 1586. Around the year 1574 Hilliard invested in a gold mine in Scotland with Cornelius de Vos and lost money. In 1599 Hilliard secured an annual allowance from the Queen of £40, and in 1617 managed to obtain a monopoly on producing miniatures and engravings of James I, something Elizabeth had refused in 1584. Nonetheless, he

1564-653: The 1590s on, his old pupil Isaac Oliver was a competitor, who was appointed as Limner to the new Queen Anne of Denmark in 1604, and then to Henry, Prince of Wales when he established his own household in 1610. Oliver had travelled abroad and developed a more modern style than his master, and was certainly better at perspective drawing, though he could not match Hilliard in freshness and psychological penetration. Elizabeth I Goldsmith Goldsmiths must be skilled in forming metal through filing , soldering , sawing , forging , casting , and polishing . The trade has very often included jewelry -making skills, as well as

1632-625: The Queen is dated 1572, and already in 1573 he was granted the reversion of a lease by the Queen for his "good, true and loyal service." In 1571 he had made "a booke of portraitures" for the Earl of Leicester , the Queen's favourite , which is likely to be how he became known to the Court; several of his children were named after Leicester and his circle. Despite this patronage, in 1576 the recently married Hilliard left for France "with no other intent than to increase his knowledge by this voyage, and upon hope to get

1700-464: The Queen's sculptor and painter, and meeting Ronsard , who perhaps paid him the rather double-edged compliment later quoted by Hilliard: "the islands indeed seldom bring forth any cunning man, but when they do it is in high perfection". He appears in the papers of the duc d'Alençon , a suitor of Queen Elizabeth, under the name of "Nicholas Belliart, peintre anglois", in 1577, receiving a stipend of 200 livres. The miniature of Madame de Sourdis, certainly

1768-468: The Younger , Henry VIII 's court painter, and Albrecht Dürer , who he probably only knew from his prints . Both were dead by the time of Hilliard's birth, and in many respects he is more conservative even than Holbein. He also learned from French art, including their chalk drawings, and refers to the artist and theoretical writer Gian Paolo Lomazzo . English art was distinctly provincial, and Hilliard's art

1836-620: The accession of the Catholic Queen Mary I of England , and on 8 May 1557 Hilliard, then ten years old, was recorded in Geneva as one of an eleven-strong Bodley family group at a Calvinist service presided over by John Knox . Calvinism does not seem to have struck with Hilliard, but the fluent French he acquired abroad was later useful. Thomas Bodley, two years older, continued an intensive classical education under leading scholars in Geneva, but it

1904-543: The afternoon ... My Lady ... telleth me, when she is well, that she will see if Hilliard will come and teach me, if she can by any means, she will". He continued to work as a goldsmith, and produced some spectacular "picture boxes" or jewelled lockets for miniatures, worn round the neck, such as the Lyte Jewel in the British Museum , which, typically, was given by James I (more generous in this respect than Elizabeth) to

1972-471: The army, but the overall direction was never delegated, and no subsequent French minister ever equalled the power of the two cardinals. In Spain under the Habsburgs , when Olivares was succeeded by his nephew Luis Méndez de Haro , the last real valido , the control of government into a single pair of hands had already been weakened. Favourites were the subject of much contemporary debate, some of it involving

2040-538: The art of limning by Levina Teerlinc during this period. She was the daughter of Simon Bening , the last great master of the Flemish manuscript illumination tradition, and became court painter to Henry VIII after Holbein's death. After his seven years' apprenticeship, Hilliard was made a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in 1569. He set up a workshop with his younger brother John; another brother

2108-518: The centuries progressed; one of the last families able to jump the widening chasm between servants and nobility was that of Louis XIV's valet, Alexandre Bontemps , whose descendants, holding the office for a further three generations, married into many great families, even eventually including the extended royal family itself. Queen Victoria's John Brown came much too late; the devotion of the monarch and ability to terrorise her household led to hardly any rise in social or economic position. In England,

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2176-438: The clientele for miniatures from the Court to the gentry, and by the end of the century to well-off city merchants. Apart from Laurence, who continued in a "feeble" version of his father's style, his pupils included Isaac Oliver , by far the most important, and Rowland Lockey . He appears to have given lessons to amateurs also; a letter from a young lady being "finished" in London in 1595 says: "For my drawing, I take an hour in

2244-466: The death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, the 23-year-old Louis XIV determined that he would rule himself, and he did not allow the delegation of power to ministers that had happened during the previous 40 years. The absolute monarchy pioneered by Cardinal Richelieu , Mazarin's predecessor, was to be led by the monarch himself. Louis had many powerful ministers, notably Jean-Baptiste Colbert , in finances, and François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois ,

2312-481: The envy and loathing of the rest of the nobility , and monarchs were sometimes obliged by political pressure to dismiss or execute them; in the Middle Ages nobles often rebelled in order to seize and kill a favourite. Too close a relationship between monarch and favourite was seen as a breach of the natural order and hierarchy of society. Since many favourites had flamboyant "over-reaching" personalities, they often led

2380-544: The goldsmith castes. The printmaking technique of engraving developed among goldsmiths in Germany around 1430, who had long used the technique on their metal pieces. The notable engravers of the fifteenth century were either goldsmiths, such as Master E. S. , or the sons of goldsmiths, such as Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer . A goldsmith might have a wide array of skills and knowledge at their disposal. Gold , being

2448-458: The immigrant Renold Elstrack to actually engrave the plates. James's more lavish presentation of portraits had its effect on the quality of the work from the Hilliard workshop. When the Earl of Rutland returned from an embassy to Denmark, sixteen members of his party were given chains of gold with the king's picture, and others received just a picture. The esteem of his contemporaries for Hilliard

2516-608: The knowledge of the new king. It has been claimed that le Daim's career was the origin of the term, as favori (the French word) first appeared around the time of his death in 1484. Privado in Spanish was older, but was later partly replaced by the term valido ; in Spanish, both terms were less derogatory than in French and English. Spain had a succession of validos during the reigns of Philip II , Philip III , and Philip IV . Such rises from menial positions became progressively harder as

2584-568: The largest collection of his work is in the Victoria and Albert Museum , London. The National Portrait Gallery and British Museum in London have several others. The conditions in which miniatures have been kept ensure that many remain in excellent condition, and have avoided the attention of restorers, although fading of pigments, and oxidization of silver paint are common. He was the author of an important treatise on miniature painting, now called The Art of Limning ( c.  1600 ), preserved in

2652-669: The late 17th century, the royal favourite as quasi- Prime Minister declined; in France, the King resolved to rule directly , while in Britain, as the power of the monarch relative to Parliament declined, executive power slowly passed to the new office of Prime Minister and other parliamentary ministers. The term is also sometimes employed by writers who want to avoid terms such as " royal mistress ", "friend", "companion", or "lover" (of either sex). Some favourites had sexual relations with their monarch (or

2720-424: The metals used to create the alloy, the color can change. The goldsmith will use a variety of tools and machinery, including the rolling mill , the drawplate , and perhaps, swage blocks and other forming tools to make the metal into shapes needed to build the intended piece. Then parts are fabricated through a wide variety of processes and assembled by soldering . It is a testament to the history and evolution of

2788-453: The monarch through the social life of the court, rather than the business of politics or administration. Figures like William Cecil and Jean-Baptiste Colbert , whose accelerated rise through the administrative ranks owed much to their personal relations with the monarch , but who did not attempt to behave like grandees of the nobility, were also often successful. Elizabeth I had Cecil as Secretary of State and later Lord High Treasurer from

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2856-525: The monarch's spouse), but this was far from universal. Many were favoured for their skill as administrators, while others were close friends of the monarch. The term has an inbuilt element of disapproval and is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "One who stands unduly high in the favour of a prince", citing Shakespeare : "Like favourites/ Made proud by Princes" ( Much Ado about Nothing , 3.1.9 ). Favourites inevitably tended to incur

2924-408: The most malleable metal of all, offers unique opportunities for the worker. In today's world a wide variety of other metals, especially platinum alloys, also may be used frequently. 24 karat is pure gold and historically, was known as fine gold . Because it is so soft, however, 24 karat gold is rarely used. It is usually alloyed to make it stronger and to create different colors. Depending on

2992-426: The most important and wealthiest of the guilds in a city. The guild kept records of members and the marks they used on their products. These records, when they survive, are very useful to historians. Goldsmiths often acted as bankers , since they dealt in gold and had sufficient security for the safe storage of valuable items, though they were usually restrained from lending at interest, which was regarded as usury . In

3060-520: The name of favourites , or privadoes ... . And we see plainly that this hath been done, not by weak and passionate princes only, but by the wisest and most politic that ever reigned; who have oftentimes joined to themselves some of their servants; whom both themselves have called friends, and allowed other likewise to call them in the same manner; using the word which is received between private men. Lord Macaulay wrote in 1844 of George III 's old tutor, John Stuart , who became Prime Minister : "He

3128-581: The one labelled "My Lord's picture" containing a portrait of Leicester. His appointment as miniaturist to the Crown included the old sense of a painter of illuminated manuscripts and he was commissioned to decorate important documents, such as the founding charter of Emmanuel College, Cambridge (1584), which has an enthroned Elizabeth within an elaborate framework of Flemish-style Renaissance ornament. He also seems to have designed woodcut title-page frames and borders for books, some of which bear his initials. As

3196-502: The open alley of a goodly garden, where no tree was near, nor any shadow at all ..." He emphasises the need to catch "the grace in countenance, in which the affections appear, which can neither be well used nor well-judged of but by the wiser sort". So the "wise drawer" should "watch" and "catch these lovely graces, witty smilings, and these stolen glances which suddenly like lightning pass and another countenance taketh place". His normal technique (except for duplicates of royal images)

3264-499: The portrait of Elizabeth to Hilliard. After his return from France he lived and worked in a house in Gutter Lane, off Cheapside , from 1579 to 1613, when his son and pupil Laurence took it over, carrying on in business for many decades. Hilliard had moved to an unknown address in the parish of St Martins-in-the-Fields , out of the city and nearer the Court. Strong describes the opening of the shop as "a revolution" which soon broadened

3332-593: The private painting market. Hilliard asked that Cecil employ his son as a clerk, because he could not keep him in his own trade. 21st century research on two paintings at Waddesdon Manor has transformed our understanding of his work as two large-scale paintings have been newly attributed to him. The portraits, of Sir Amyas Paulet and Elizabeth, are painted on French oak panels, not the Baltic oak commonly used in England, and are thought to date to Hilliard's time in France. The new data support Sir Roy Strong 's 1983 attribution of

3400-426: The scope for giving political power to a favourite was reduced by the growing importance of Parliament . After the "mushroom" Buckingham was assassinated by John Felton in 1628, Charles I turned to Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford , who had been a leader of Parliamentary opposition to Buckingham and the King, but had become his supporter after Charles made concessions. Strafford can therefore hardly be called

3468-622: The techniques available, especially for clothes and jewels, often exploiting the tiny shadows cast by thick dots of paint to give a three-dimensionality to pearls and lace. A few half-finished miniatures give a good idea of his working technique. He probably made few drawings; certainly few have survived. His style shows little development after the 1570s, apart from developing some technical refinements, except that many of his later repetitions of James I and his family are much weaker than his early works. James did not like sitting for his portrait and Hilliard probably had few sittings with him. From

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3536-519: The term was used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler. It was especially a phenomenon of the 16th and 17th centuries , when government had become too complex for many hereditary rulers with no great interest in or talent for it, and political institutions were still evolving. From 1600 to 1660 there were particular successions of all-powerful minister-favourites in much of Europe, particularly in Spain, England, France and Sweden. By

3604-448: The time she ascended the throne in 1558 until his death 40 years later. She had more colourful relationships with several courtiers; the most lasting and intimate one was with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester , who was also a leading politician. Only in her last decade was the position of the Cecils, father and son, challenged, by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex , when he fatally attempted

3672-399: The trade that those skills have reached an extremely high level of attainment and skill over time. A fine goldsmith can and will work to a tolerance approaching that of precision machinery, but largely using only his eyes and hand tools. Quite often the goldsmith's job involves the making of mountings for gemstones , in which case they often are referred to as jewelers . 'Jeweller', however,

3740-458: The very similar skills of the silversmith . Traditionally, these skills had been passed along through apprenticeships ; more recently jewelry arts schools, specializing in teaching goldsmithing and a multitude of skills falling under the jewelry arts umbrella, are available. Many universities and junior colleges also offer goldsmithing, silversmithing, and metal arts fabrication as a part of their fine arts curriculum. Compared to other metals, gold

3808-473: The visual image of Elizabethan England , very different from that of most of Europe in the late sixteenth century. Technically he was very conservative by European standards, but his paintings are superbly executed and have a freshness and charm that has ensured his continuing reputation as "the central artistic figure of the Elizabethan age, the only English painter whose work reflects, in its delicate microcosm,

3876-470: The way to their own downfall with their rash behaviour. As the opinions of the gentry and bourgeoisie grew in importance, they too often strongly disliked favourites. Dislike from all classes could be especially intense in the case of favourites who were elevated from humble, or at least minor, backgrounds by royal favour. Titles and estates were usually given lavishly to favourites, who were compared to mushrooms because they sprang up suddenly overnight, from

3944-431: The work of Hilliard, is dated 1577, in which year she was a maid of honour at the French court; and other portraits which are his work are believed to represent Gabrielle d'Estrées (niece of Madame de Sourdis), la princesse de Condé, and Madame de Montgomery. Money was a persistent problem for Hilliard. The typical price for a miniature seems to have been £3 – which compares well with prices charged by Cornelis Ketel in

4012-438: The work of government – Richelieu had his "créatures" and Olivares his "hechuras". Oxenstierna and William Cecil , who both died in office, successfully trained their sons to succeed them. The favourite can often not be easily distinguished from the successful royal administrator, who at the top of the tree certainly needed the favour of the monarch, but the term is generally used of those who first came into contact with

4080-449: The world of Shakespeare 's earlier plays." Hilliard was born in Exeter in 1547. He was the son of Richard Hilliard (1519–1594) of Exeter, Devon , also spelt Hellyer, a goldsmith who became a staunch Protestant and was Sheriff of Exeter in 1568, by his marriage to Laurence, daughter of John Wall, a City of London goldsmith. He was one of four boys: two others became goldsmiths, and one

4148-472: The world. The Copper Age Varna culture ( Bulgaria ) from the 5th millennium BC is credited with the earliest found instances of gold metallurgy. The associated Varna Necropolis treasure contains the oldest golden jewellery in the world with an approximate age of over 6,000 years. Some pieces date back thousands of years and were made using many techniques that still are used by modern goldsmiths. Techniques developed by some of those goldsmiths achieved

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4216-556: Was a favourite, and favourites have always been odious in this country. No mere favourite had been at the head of the government since the dagger of Felton had reached the heart of the Duke of Buckingham". In 1974 Jean Bérenger published "Pour une enquête européenne, l'histoire du ministeriat au XVIIe siècle" in Annales , a seminal study on the subject. According to Bérenger, the simultaneous success of minister-favourites in several monarchies of

4284-473: Was a trusted Habsburg minister who lived grandly, but he was not really a favourite, partly because most of his career was spent away from the monarch. Some favourites came from very humble backgrounds: Archibald Armstrong , jester to James I of England infuriated everyone else at court but managed to retire a wealthy man; unlike Robert Cochrane , a stonemason (probably a senior one, more like an architect than an artisan ) who became Earl of Mar before

4352-489: Was also a goldsmith, and the youngest a clergyman. He married Brandon's daughter Alice (1556–1611) in 1576 and they had seven children. Hilliard emerged from his apprenticeship at a time when a new royal portrait painter was "desperately needed". Two panel portraits long attributed to him, the "Phoenix" and "Pelican" portraits, are dated c.  1572–76 . Hilliard was appointed limner (miniaturist) and goldsmith to Elizabeth I at an unknown date; his first known miniature of

4420-623: Was briefly imprisoned in Ludgate Prison that year, after standing surety for the debt of another, and being unable to produce the amount. His father-in-law evidently had little trust in his financial acumen; his will of 1591 provided for his daughter by an allowance administered by the Goldsmiths' Company. The same year the Queen gave him £400, a large amount, after he made a second Great Seal , and perhaps bearing in mind that he had not had an annuity. After his return from France he had invested in

4488-462: Was executed in 1641. There were later minister-favourites in England, but they knew that the favour of the monarch alone was not sufficient to rule, and most also had careers in Parliament. In 1721, the new office of Prime Minister was created, formalizing the replacement of ministers chosen by the monarch with a political head of government . In France, the movement was in the opposite direction. On

4556-406: Was to paint the whole face in the presence of the sitter, probably in at least two sittings. He kept a number of prepared flesh-coloured blanks ready, in different shades, to save time on laying the "carnation" ground. He then painted the outlines of the features very faintly with a "pencil", actually a very fine pointed squirrel -hair brush, before filling these out by faint hatchings. He added to

4624-471: Was vividly described by Tacitus , was the subject of numerous works all around Europe. Shakespeare was more cautious, and with the exceptions of Falstaff , badly disappointed in his hopes of becoming a favourite, and Cardinal Wolsey in Henry ;VIII , he gives no major parts to favourites. Francis Bacon , almost a favourite himself, devoted much of his essay On Friendship to the subject, writing as

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