# An Elizabethan Courtier

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/custodis-hieronymos-r5bebda178c1a8b/an-elizabethan-courtier-ra561e6d61c3b33>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [CUSTODIS, Hieronymos](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/custodis-hieronymos-r5bebda178c1a8b>)
- Date: 1551-1600
- Technique: Oil on panel, 76 x 63 cm

## Commentary

The sitter in the portrait may well be Sir Thomas Drake \(1556-1606\), younger brother of the famous explorer Sir Francis Drake, as identified by a pencil inscription, &#39;Sir T. Drake&#39;, on the reverse of its former old frame. The meaning of the intriguing motif in the upper left corner has been lost to us today. It depicts a vase of gillyflowers, a sparrow &#39;nipping the bud&#39; of a gillyflower \(carnation\), above which is an inscription &#39;fatto a tempo&#39;, \(&#39;done in time&#39;\).

## Related artworks

- [Portrait of Elizabeth Brydges, later Lady Kennedy](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/custodis-hieronymos-r5bebda178c1a8b/portrait-of-elizabeth-brydges-later-lady-kennedy-r12452a53b43508>)
- [Portrait of Lady Jane Hynde, née Verne](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/custodis-hieronymos-r5bebda178c1a8b/portrait-of-lady-jane-hynde-ne-verne-r2c09ccefc24689>)
- [Portrait of Sir Francis Hynde](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/custodis-hieronymos-r5bebda178c1a8b/portrait-of-sir-francis-hynde-rc710b98393b14e>)
- [Sir John Ashburnham](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/custodis-hieronymos-r5bebda178c1a8b/sir-john-ashburnham-re179afc76c5c7b>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)