Nicholas Hilliard (ca. 1547-1619)
Nicholas Hilliard, the founder of the English school of miniature painting, trained as a goldsmith. By 1570, he had painted his first portrait of Elizabeth I and probably had already been appointed her Court Limner and Goldsmith. He also undertook diplomatic missions on behalf of his queen. Between 1576 and 1578, he journeyed to France as her representative and was attached to the Duke of Alençon, one of Elizabeth's many suitors. Around 1600, Hilliard wrote the treatise The Arte of Limning, in which he wrote, "Limning...is a thing apart from all other painting or drawing...and it excelleth all other painting whatsoever in sundry points."