National Portrait Gallery Uncovers Little Known Painting of Guinea Pig

A little known painting of three Elizabethan children containing what may be the first portrait of a guinea pig has been uncovered by the National Portrait Gallery, London, during the making of its forthcoming exhibition Elizabeth I and Her People (10 October 2013 - 5 January 2014), supported by The Weiss Gallery, it was announced today.

The portrait depicts three unknown children aged six, seven and five with a beige, brown and white guinea pig, cradled by the little girl at the centre of the group. It is possibly the earliest-known depiction of this animal in a portrait. Popular in Europe as exotic pets, guinea pigs were introduced from South America by Spanish traders.

In an exhibition richly endowed in portraits with animals, the youngest boy in this painting holds a small bird, probably a finch, which was a particularly popular pet with children because of its striking plumage. Its representation in children's portraiture may be intended to symbolise the Christian soul by association with depictions of the infant Christ with a goldfinch.

The sitters almost certainly belong to a wealthy family of the nobility or gentry as they are expensively and fashionably dressed, whilst the skilful painting suggests that it is the work of an artist familiar with Netherlandish techniques. Portraits of children became popular among the nobility and gentry in the sixteenth century across Europe, enabling families to document lineage and fertility, and to capture individual likeness, at a time when child mortality was high. The image reflects the growth in different types of portraits in this period, a major theme of the Gallery's new exhibition, which is the first to look at the rise of new social classes in Elizabethan society.

As well as the usual portrait staples of horses, stags and dogs, more exotic animal appearances in Elizabeth I and Her Peopleinclude an elephant on a crest, a falcon, a ring decorated with a tiny depiction of a grasshopper and an intricate purse made in the shape of a frog.

William Cecil, Lord Burghley, is shown riding a mule and the Queen herself is depicted with an ermine and, in the recently discovered Isaac Oliver postcard-sized portrait Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses, with a peacock.

Left to right: Elizabeth I, the 'Ermine' Portrait Attrib. Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1585, The Marquess of Salisbury, Hatfield House; Purse Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford; William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley Unknown Anglo-Netherlandish artist, c.1580s The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford

With of over 100 objects, including accessories artefacts, costumes, coins, jewellery and crafts, Elizabeth I and Her Peoplewill include not just portraits of courtiers, but also intriguing lesser-known images of merchants, lawyers, goldsmiths, butchers, calligraphers, playwrights and artists - all of whom contributed to the making of a nation and a new world power.

The exhibition will show how members of a growing wealthy middle class sought to have their likenesses captured for posterity as the mid-sixteenth-century interest in portraiture broadened. Portraits of courtiers such as Christopher Hatton, Bess of Hardwick and Elizabeth Vernon are joined by explorers such as Francis Drake and Martin Frobisher, ambassadors such asAbd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun, financiers such as Thomas Gresham and poets including John Donne.

Elizabeth I and Her People is curated by Dr Tarnya Cooper, the National Portrait Gallery's Chief Curator and its Curator of Sixteenth Century Portraits, whose previous exhibitions at the Gallery include Searching for Shakespeare (2006). She is the author of A Guide to Tudor & Jacobean Portraits (2008) and Citizen Portrait - Portrait Painting and the Urban Elite, 1540-1620 (2012).

ELIZABETH I AND HER PEOPLE

Supported by The Weiss Gallery

10 October 2013 - 5 January 2014, National Portrait Gallery, London www.npg.org.uk

Gift Aid ticket prices: (includes voluntary Gift Aid donation of 10% above standard price): Adult £13.50, Concs. £12.50/£11.50 (Standard ticket prices: Adult £12.50, Concs £11.30 / £10.40)

Three Unknown Elizabethan children

Unknown Anglo-Netherlandish artist, c.1580

Oil on panel, 730 × 570mm Inscribed left to right: AETATIS Sv[A]E:6: / AETATIS [SvAE]:7: / AETATIS:Sv[A]E:5: Privately Owned

Three Unknown Elizabethan children Unknown Anglo-Netherlandish artist, c.1580 Privately Owned

Images: www.npg.org.uk/press

National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place WC2H 0HE, opening hours Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday: 10am - 6pm (Gallery closure commences at 5.50pm) Late Opening: Thursday, Friday: 10am - 9pm (Gallery closure commences at 8.50pm) Nearest Underground: Leicester Square/Charing Cross General information: 0207 306 0055 Recorded information: 020 7312 2463 Website/Tickets: www.npg.org.uk