Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke

1 portrait

by Nicholas Hilliard
watercolour on vellum, circa 1590
2 1/8 in. (54 mm) diameter
Accepted in lieu of tax by H.M. Government and allocated to the Gallery, 1988
Primary Collection
NPG 5994

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Sitterback to top

Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561-1621), Writer and literary patron. Sitter associated with 11 portraits.

Artistback to top

Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619), Miniature painter. Artist associated with 33 portraits.

This portraitback to top

It was at Mary Sidney's suggestion that her brother Philip wrote his celebrated Arcadia. She worked together with her brother on a metrical translation of the Psalms, and after his death took under her protection many of the writers to whom he acted as patron. In this portrait by Hilliard, Mary appears to be wearing an unusual necklace, the white beads of which are dotted with black. The necklace is in fact a string of pearls. It was Hilliard's practice to paint pearls with burnished silver highlights and over time the silver has oxidised and turned black.

Linked publicationsback to top

Tudor Portraits Resource Pack, p. 35
Cooper, John, Visitor's Guide, 2000, p. 114
Cooper, Tarnya, Searching for Shakespeare (hardback), 2006 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 2 March - 29 May 2006), p. 186
Cooper, Tarnya, Searching for Shakespeare, 2006 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 2 March - 29 May 2006), p. 186
MacLeod, Catharine, Tudor Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery Collection, 1996, p. 35
Nicholl, Charles, Character Sketches: Elizabethan Writers, 1997, p. 30
Nicholl, Charles, Insights: Shakespeare and His Contemporaries, 2005, p. 56
Rogers, Malcolm, Master Drawings from the National Portrait Gallery, 1993 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 August to 23 October 1994), p. 11
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 487
Walker, Richard, Miniatures: 300 Years of the English Miniature, 1998, p. 22