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| French Painter Portrait of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, King of Bohemia early 17th century Victoria & Albert Museum |
European portrait miniatures circulated for centuries in private hands before migrating to the museums that preserve them today. Many of the sitters are now unidentified and the artists unknown. With non-famous subjects, the original circumstances behind the commission have probably been irrecoverably forgotten. Yet in their thousands, with a greater or smaller supply of facts attached, these floating artifacts survive.
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| Nicholas Hilliard Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I 1572 National Portrait Gallery (U.K.) |
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| John Hoskins Portrait of Dr. Brian Walton, Theologian 1657 Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| attributed to Peter van Slingelandt Portrait of an unknown man ca. 1680 Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Jeremiah Meyer Portrait of an unknown woman 1780 Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Jean Clouet Portrait of Charles de Cossé ca. 1535 Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| John Smart Portrait of an unknown Indian Gentleman 1789 Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Sophie Liénard Portrait of an unknown woman ca. 1840 Prado |
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| Hans Holbein Portrait of an unknown Englishman ca. 1532-35 Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Richard Cosway Portrait of Anne Seymour Damer 1785 National Portrait Gallery. London |
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| Christian Richter Portrait of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough early 18th century Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Hans Holbein Portrait of Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton ca. 1535 Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Charles Hayter Wife and children of a purser of the East India Company ca. 1800 Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Nathaniel Hone Portrait of an unknown man 1765 National Portrait Gallery, London |