Pietro Fabris painted this canvas for his patron, the British envoy in Naples, Sir William Hamilton. The festival of the Madonna dell’Arco was held on Easter Monday at the sanctuary seen on the right. The sanctuary housed the miraculous image of the Madonna which was believed to have saved it from destruction during the eruption of Vesuvius in 1631. Hamilton and Fabris collaborated on a number of projects, including the production by Fabris of plates for Hamilton’s book on volcanic sites entitled Campi Phlegraei, or ‘flaming fields’. Both men were interested in Neapolitan costumes and customs, which inspired this painting.

Riemenschneider was one of the most important sculptors in Germany in the early period of the Reformation. He settled in Wurzberg in 1483, where he headed a workshop for nearly 45 years producing numerous altarpieces, statues and reliefs. This finely-carved sculpture of a female saint would originally have formed part of an altarpiece, together with four other saints. She originally held an object in her right hand – an 'attribute' – by which she would have been identified, but this has since been lost. Many sculptures of this period were gilded and painted, but the surface finish of this sculpture suggests that it was not intended to be decorated.

Frances Howard’s third husband, the Duke of Lennox, was created the first Duke of Richmond and Lennox in 1623, earning her the nickname of ‘Double Duchess’. She is portrayed wearing an eye-catching low-cut bodice embroidered in silk and gold threads, and a pendant ornament of a heart and half moon associated with the Lennox family.

Born in Rouen, France, to Huguenot (Protestant) parents, Isaac Oliver arrived in England in 1568. He was mentored by the great miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard and became England’s most celebrated miniature painter during the reign of James I, painting numerous portraits of Queen Anne of Denmark and Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. The unknown sitter, previously thought to be Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, is finely dressed, wearing a black satin doublet and collar fringed with delicate lace.