Art in England: Mini-art
Lady in masque costume; Girl aged 5. Miniatures by Oliver and Hilliard. Victoria and Albert Museum.
Only in the rather unusual area of the miniaturist did English painting produce high art: Nicholas Hilliard* and others painted elegant, tiny portraits of the kind that Hamlet and Gertrude are probably wearing in the "closet" scene*.
Footnotes
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Nicholas Hilliard
The first and greatest of miniaturists in England, Hilliard (1537-1619) was the son of a goldsmith and was initially trained as a jeweller. His work was much in demand, and he painted many of the nobility of Shakespeare's time.
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Visual aids
Look here on this picture, and on this,
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
(3.4.54-55)
The scene is often staged with Hamlet comparing the miniatures he and Gertrude have hanging around their necks.