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1 of 253523 objects
Brunswick-Lüneburg Court miniaturist (c. 1595)
Margareta, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1469-1528) c.1595
Watercolour on vellum | 7.0 x 5.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 420434
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This is one of the series of forty-nine portrait miniatures (420431-420679; Royal Collection) of German and other forebears of the Hanoverian dynasty which were first recorded hanging in Queen Caroline's Closet at Kensington Palace by George Vertue in 1743. The series can be dated fairly narrowly by internal evidence to the years between 1593-7 and appears to be the work of a single as yet unidentified miniature painter who worked mainly at the Brunswick-Lüneburg court but also visited Brandenburg and other centres. The artist was a naïve successor to the tradition of German court portraiture established by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) at the court of the Elector of Saxony at Wittenberg.
Margareta was a daughter of Ernest, Elector of Saxony. She married Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1487. Her children included Ernest of Celle (see 420435), founder of the new House of Brunswick and Lüneburg.
Inscribed at the top in white: MARGRETA GEBOR: HERZ: Z.SACHSEN HERZ.Z:BRAŪ UND LUNEBURG.Provenance
Acquired by George I or George II; first recorded in Queen Caroline's Closet at Kensington Palace in 1743
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour on vellum
Measurements
7.0 x 5.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
8.1 x 6.6 cm (frame, external)
6.7 x 5.1 cm (sight)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
Reynolds 1999 : Reynolds, G., 1999. The Sixteenth & Seventeenth Century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, London – Reynolds 1999 184Cust 1910 : Cust, L., 1910. Windsor Castle: Portrait Miniatures, London – Cust 1910 36/12Alternative title(s)
Margareta of Saxony, Consort of Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1469-1528)
