Isaac Oliver

A Party in the Open Air. Allegory on Conjugal Love

Venus and Cupid

Portrait of a girl with carnation, oval

Portrait of a man

Isaac Oliver (c. 1565 – bur. 2 October 1617) or Olivier was a French-born English portrait miniature painter.[1][2][3]

Life and work

Born in Rouen, he moved to London in 1568 with his Huguenot parents Peter and Epiphany Oliver to escape the Wars of Religion in France. He then studied miniature painting under Nicholas Hilliard; and developed a naturalistic style, which was largely influenced by Italian and Flemish art. His first wife, Elizabeth, died in 1599. With her he fathered Peter Oliver, who was also eminent in miniature painting. In 1602 he married Sara, daughter of the well-known portrait painter Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder (c. 1520 – c. 1590) and his wife Susannah de Critz. Susannah was the daughter of Troilus de Critz, a goldsmith from Antwerp, and close relative of John de Critz, the Queen's Serjeant-Painter. She was also the older sister or cousin of Magdalen de Critz who married Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1562 – 1635).

After the death of Elizabeth I, he became a painter of James I's court, painting numerous portraits of the queen Anne of Denmark and Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.

Some of his work is housed in Windsor Castle. Some of his pen drawings are located in the British Museum.

Gallery
Portrait miniatures

Portrait of a Young Gentleman (possibly Sir Philip Sydney), 1605

Unknown Woman in Masque Costume, 1609

Philip Herbert, Fourth Earl of Pembroke, 1611

Charles I as Prince of Wales, 1615

Larger works

Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury

Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, cabinet miniature, 1616

Elizabeth I and the three Goddesses Juno, Minerva & Venus.

See also

List of British artists

References

Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). "Oliver, Isaac". Dictionary of National Biography. 42. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 145–6.
Macfall, Haldane. A history of painting, volume 7 (Boston: Estes, 1912) pp. 40-41.
Baskett, John. Paul Mellon's legacy: a passion for British art (Yale University Press, 2007) pp. 240-1.