Cooper, Samuel, 1609–72, one of the greatest English miniaturists. A student of Hoskins, he worked in London from c.1642. He painted portraits of numerous celebrated Englishmen. His draftsmanship and unusual use of lighting made his vellum-on-card head-and-shoulder paintings remarkable. Specimens of his work are to be found at Windsor Castle; in the collections of the duke of Buccleuch and the duke of Devonshire (the latter containing the famous portrait of Cromwell familiar through engravings); in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; in the Rijksmuseum; and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His brother, Alexander Cooper, d. 1660, was for many years miniature painter at the court of Queen Christina of Sweden.
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