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This portrait of an unknown gentleman by Oliver can be dated to the early 1620s, the date after which the fashionable ‘falling’ ruff was worn. This miniature is distinguished by its rare heart shape, the proportions of the miniature indicating that Oliver was requested to paint in this format.[1] In technique, the miniature is closest to the portrait of the unknown man, dated to circa 1620-2, in the Victoria and Albert museum.[2]

The heart shape of this miniature epitomises the romantic role of the portrait miniature in the early Stuart period as an exchange of likenesses between betrothed couples or lovers. This format is, however, exceedingly rare. Hearts were found in many forms of jewellery in this period, including brooches and rings, but miniatures were largely housed in oval lockets, albeit often heavily jewelled or enamelled.[3] The closest comparable example to the present miniature is the portrait of Ludovic Stuart, 1st Duke of Richmond and 2nd Duke of Lennox (1574-1624), painted by Peter Oliver’s father, Isaac (c.1565-1617).[4] Set into a heart-shaped gold locket, the form of this portrait primarily refers to the badge of the Lennox family, although the sentimental connotations expressed in the shape were exploited by the Duchess of Lennox and Richmond, who wore the work as mourning jewellery in her portrait by Van Dyck (see fig.1).[5]

The portrait here possibly represents William Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons.[6] He had a distinctive left eye, which in later portraits can be seen, as here, with a pronounced protrusion beneath it. Trained in the law, Lenthall was chosen as Speaker of the House at the beginning of the Long Parliament in November 1640. During the civil wars, he sided with Parliament. He continued as Speaker in the first Parliament held under Cromwell’s Protectorate in 1654, and after the collapse of the Protectorate in 1659, he was Speaker of the restored Long Parliament. Although he supported the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660, he was thereafter barred from public office. He regained royal favour by testifying against a man accused of participating in the trial and execution of Charles I in 1649.



[1] Miniatures of this period were most commonly conceived as an oval, with the edges cropped close to the sitter’s shoulders and continuing in this line up towards the sitter’s head. The spacing at the sides of this miniature is too wide for the miniature to have been cut down from an oval shape, indicating that the original stipulation for the commission for the miniature to be painted in a heart shape. Traces of a painted gold border, which follow the shape of the frame, also reveal a heart to be the original shape.

[2] Victoria and Albert Museum, London, P133-1910

[3] A portrait miniature of an unknown lady, called Frances Walsingham, Countess of Essex, by Isaac Oliver (Collection of His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry KBE, DL) shows the sitter wearing a large heart-shaped jewel in her hair.

[4] National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG 3063

[5] The original portrait by Van Dyck is now lost but there is a version at Longleat (fig.1). The portrait dates to circa 1624, the year of the Duke’s death.

[6] The sitter was suggested by Dr Edward Town (FSA) in correspondence with Emma Rutherford, February 2022. He currently serves as Head of Collections Information and Access and Assistant Curator for Early Modern Art at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut.