Sir Anthony Mildmay, Knight of Apethorpe, Northamptonshire
Medium
Watercolor on vellum, laid on card, mounted on wood
Dimensions
unframed: 23.3 × 17.4 cm · sheet: 23.2 × 17.1 cm
Classification
Portrait Miniature
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1926.554
Tags
About this artwork
Framed by the folds of a circular tent, Sir Anthony Mildmay strikes a relaxed and confident pose, with his right hand resting on a cloth-covered table and his left grasping the hilt of his thin, double-edged sword called a rapier. Helmet, gauntlet, and leg coverings are scattered about, as if Mildmay has been interrupted in the act of putting on or taking off his armor. Despite its small scale, this portrait reveals Nicholas Hilliard’s emulation of (and rivalry with) life-size court portraiture,...