Visitors will learn about the scientific and scholarly detective work that has led to this important discovery and will be able to compare it with the famous 'Phoenix' portrait of Elizabeth I, generously lent by the National Portrait Gallery. Exploring themes from romance to international relations, her ambassador to France Sir Amias Paulet and the doomed nobleman, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk.
Attributing to Hilliard
Nicholas Hilliard is famous for his miniatures, painted in watercolour on vellum. Archival documents suggest that he also made paintings 'in greate' - full-scale portraits in oil paint. Scholars have suggested various oil paintings that might have been painted by, or under the direction of Hilliard (including the 'Pelican' and 'Phoenix' portraits, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool and National Portrait Gallery, London) but these attributions rely heavily on stylistic comparison with his miniatures and it is hard to make conclusive comparisons between works of such different scale, type and medium.