Cooper, Samuel

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Cooper, Samuel (1609–72). English miniaturist who enjoyed a European reputation. He was active before, during, and after the English Civil War and Commonwealth and his patrons included Cromwell and Charles II, Milton and Monck. Cooper regarded the miniature as a painting, not a piece of the jeweller's art; with his use of light and shade, combined with superb draughtsmanship, he broke away from his predecessors, especially Hilliard. The diarist John Evelyn described Cooper as ‘the prince of limners’ and Pepys commissioned a miniature of his wife. The Royal Collection has several excellent examples of Cooper's work. There are also examples in London at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, in Cambridge, and at the Hague.

June Cochrane

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Samuel Cooper

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