This is one of a group of eight miniatures (420423-420430) which form a retrospective extension to the series of forty-nine miniatures of rulers of Brunswick-Lüneburg and their wives (420431-420679) dating from c. 1595 also in the Royal Collection. This group of eight are fanciful portraits embellished with inscriptions in Gothic script indicating a romantic view of the historical past and are later in date than the larger, original group. They may date from the seventeenth century or possibly from the early eighteenth century when they were first recorded in Queen Caroline's Closet at Kensington Palace by the antiquarian George Vertue. Otto the Great, also known as Der Hinckende (the lame) or Von der Heide, became Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg on the death of his father Bernard I. Inscribed at the top in white: Otto der grosse von der heide hertzog zu braunschweig und lunebourg bernhardts son starb ann 14 [..]