Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Two Olivers

Isaac Oliver
Self Portrait
1590

Isaac Oliver
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex
1596

Isaac Oliver
Lord Herbert of Cherbury
1610

Isaac Oliver
John Donne
1616

Isaac Oliver
Henry, Prince of Wales
1612

Isaac Oliver became the principal painter of miniature portraits at court during the final years of Elizabeth I, continuing in that position under her successor James. When Isaac died in 1617 he left this specialized work in the hands of his eldest son Peter Oliver (1594-1648). During the 1620s Peter continued to create the traditional tiny jewel-toned oval pictures for which has father had been famous.

Peter Oliver
Charles I when Prince of Wales
1620

Peter Oliver
Elizabeth of Bohemia
1621

Then in the 1630s Charles I decided that Peter Oliver's skills could be better employed executing fine miniature copies of the Renaissance masterpieces the King was acquiring by the shipload from Italy. Several of Peter's meticulous copies, as seen below, remain to this day in the Royal Collection, even though the originals by Titian, Correggio and Raphael so passionately appreciated by Charles I were sold in the 1650s at the hands of Cromwell's usurpers during the Commonwealth and never regained by the Crown.  

Peter Oliver, after Titian
D'Avalos Allegory

Peter Oliver, after Titian
Madonna & Child

Peter Oliver, after Correggio
Venus, Mercury & Cupid

Peter Oliver, after Correggio
Venus, Cupid & Satyr

Peter Oliver, after Raphael
St. George & the Dragon