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SAMUEL COOPER (1609-1672)

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 81 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SAMUEL See also:COOPER (1609-1672)  , See also:English See also:miniature painter . This artist was undoubtedly the greatest painter of miniatures who ever lived . He is believed to have been See also:born in See also:London, and was a See also:nephew of See also:John See also:Hoskins, the miniature painter, by whom he was educated . He lived in Henrietta St., Covent See also:Garden, and frequented the Covent Garden See also:Coffee-See also:House . See also:Pepys, who makes many references to him, tells us he was an excellent musician, playing well upon the See also:lute, and also a See also:good linguist, speaking See also:French with ease . According to other contemporary writers, he was a See also:short, stout See also:man, of a ruddy countenance . He married one Christiana, whose portrait is at Welbeck See also:Abbey, and he had one daughter . In 1668 he was instructed by Pepys to paint a portrait of Mrs Pepys, for which he charged £30 . He is known to have painted also the portrait of John See also:Aubrey, which was presented in 1691 to the Ashmolean Museum, as we learn from his See also:correspondence with John See also:Ray, the naturalist . See also:Evelyn refers to him in 1662, when, on the. occasion of the visit that the diarist paid to the See also:king, See also:Cooper was See also:drawing the royal See also:face and See also:head for the new coinage . Magnificent examples of his See also:work are to be found at See also:Windsor See also:Castle, Belvoir Castle, Montague House, Welbeck Abbey, See also:Ham House, the Rijks Museum at See also:Amsterdam and in the collection of Mr J . Pierpont See also:Morgan .

His largest miniature is in the See also:

possession of the See also:duke of See also:Richmond and See also:Gordon at See also:Goodwood . A piece of the artist's See also:handwriting is to be seen at the back of one of his miniatures in the Welbeck Abbey collection, and one of his drawings in See also:black See also:chalk is in the University See also:Gallery at See also:Oxford . His own portrait of himself is in the collection of Mr J . Pierpont Morgan . The date of his See also:death has been handed down by a See also:record in the See also:diary of See also:Mary See also:Beale, the miniature painter; and in some letters from Mr See also:Charles See also:Manners, addressed to See also:Lord Roos, dated 1672, now amongst the duke of See also:Rutland's papers at Belvoir, the writer refers to Cooper's serious illness on the 4th of May, and to his doubt as to whether the artist would ever recover . Mary Beale's reference to his decease is in the following words: " See also:Sunday, May 5, 1672—Mr See also:Samuel Cooper, the most famous limner of the See also:world for a face, dyed." For a See also:fuller See also:account see the See also:History of Portrait Miniatures, by G . C . See also:Williamson, vol. i. p . 64 . (G . C .

End of Article: SAMUEL COOPER (1609-1672)
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