Nicholas Hilliard: Life of an Artist. Elizabeth Goldring. Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2019. xiv + 338 pp. $55

How and with whom he trained as a miniaturist is unknown, but by 1572 he was commissioned to paint his first miniature of Elizabeth (National Portrait Gallery, London); its round format, with the sitter's head and shoulders turned slightly to right, positioned against a blue (“bice”) background and framed with calligraphic gold lettering, established the key characteristics of Hilliard's style. Financially inept, with frequent money shortages and schemes to make himself rich, such as a failed investment in a Scottish gold mining project, and probably living beyond his means with a large family to support, Hilliard was much more fortunate in his powerful patrons, such as the Earl of Leicester and Robert Cecil. Nicholas Hilliard: Life of an Artist is a richly rewarding addition to the already extensive published material on Hilliard and, benefiting from recent technical discoveries, it also contributes meticulously researched new archival information, as, for example, the early period of Continental exile.