Attici Amoris Ergo, Nicholas Hilliard, V&A Museum
Author Melanie Tayor is an art historian and novelist whose first novel, The Truth of the Line is based on research she did into the life of miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard and images from the Ps of the Coram Rege rolls between 1553 and 1565.
The miniature portrait of an Unknown Young Man with the motto “Attici Amoris Ergo”, has fascinated - who is the subject and what is the apparent gibberish motto and date of 1588 that is coincidentally the same date as the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
The portrait was painted by Elizabeth I’s painter, Nicholas Hilliard.
Nicholas Hilliard was born in Exeter in or about the year 1547 and in 1555 he was sent to Europe with the Bodley family, eventually ending up in Geneva with various other English Protestant exiles. The Bodley family returned to England in 1559 after the accession of Elizabeth I but it is not known whether Hilliard returned to his family in Exeter or remained in Geneva. First trained as a goldsmith in London we do not know for certain who trained him in the art of painting in watercolour on vellum but the most likely candidate is the woman artist, Levina Teerlinc, who was first recruited by Henry VIII.
Hilliard’s talent for portrait painting is more famous than his goldsmithing and he probably designed and made the lockets for many of his portraits.
In 1572 Hilliard paints his first known miniature portrait of Elizabeth I. His ability to capture his sitter’s likeness made him famous and these miniature portraits are an ideal love token. Many carried hidden messages whose meanings were known only to the recipient and in some instances, the artist.
The pose is carefully constructed, the young man clasps a feminine hand, the lace on her cuffs is coloured black and white. Is this the hand of a married lover and the reason why she is hidden behind a cloud? If she was his lover, why does she not respond to his touch? The only other clue to our sitter’s identity is the incomprehensible motto, Attici Amoris Ergo which translates literally as ‘Therefore by, with, from, through, or of the love of Atticus’.
Research into the various Ps on the front sheet of the Coram Rege rolls were the recording of the proceedings of the Queen’s Bench and always showed an image of the monarch as God’s purveyor of justice and mercy.
For the Michaelmas Law term of 1560, the anonymous illuminator has taken the trouble to show the Queen’s expression. She appears concerned, perhaps worried. It appears the illuminator is portraying the state of mind of the monarch in this crisis. The Michaelmas Law term runs from October to December, which in 1560 is the term in which the monarchy was threatened by the scandal of Lady Dudley’s death and the international gossip regarding Elizabeth and Dudley’s scandalous behaviour.
Detail of Michaelmas 1560 ‘P’
Centuries of debate about a royal bastard has continued but it seems unbelievable that the Queen of England could have hidden a pregnancy from the Court. During 1561 it was observed that Elizabeth suffered from dropsy, had swelled and was evidently unwell during that year. Elizabeth was recorded as suffering from a variety of complaints which conflicts with other observations of her as a good and enthusiastic horsewoman who enjoyed the hunt, as demonstrated in the woodcuts illustrating a book on hunting showing the queen at a kill.
The next law term was the Hilary term starting in January 1561 and here Elizabeth’s image changes from what it had been at the beginning of her reign. No longer is she shown as the Virgin Queen with her hair flowing over her shoulders but with her hair hidden as if she were a married woman. Her expression is concerned but no longer worried.
Hilary Term ‘P’
Why did her hair style change to that of a married woman? Was the queen is pregnant as opposed to married?
If she was pregnant, there is no better place to make such a statement. Perhaps it was ordered that the event be recorded here. Lord Burghley would have known about the Coram Rege Rolls and the image of the sovereign in these Ps, knowing the content rather than the formulaic front sheet would be the main interest to those who consulted them, it is highly unlikely that these images wouldhave ever beeen investigated during Elizabeth’s reign.
There is precedence for this type of image change. A similar device is used in the Michaelmas term of 1554 when Mary I marries Philip II of Spain.
Marriage of Mary I to Philip of Spain ‘P’
A virginal Mary sits on a throne next to her husband. In the next P for the Hilary Term of 1555 Mary is shown with her hair hidden under her familiar head-dress. In the November of 1554 Mary had announced she was pregnant.
Hilary Term 1555 ‘P’
What better way to declare that the first English queen regnant is carrying an heir than to portray her as no longer a virgin by the way she wears her hair? There was no precedence on how to communicate this and perhaps the illuminator used the device to showcase a married woman and to record the forthcoming event. Since Elizabeth never married why change her image on the front of these documents and portray specific expressions on her face?
Let us return to our portrait and the Latin motto – Attici Amoris Ergo. Why put apparent Latin gibberish on an expensive portrait miniature? Perhaps it was a code between the youth and his lady and by inclusion of the name, the code must therefore relate to the Roman citizen, Atticus. Perhaps the young man and the lady shared a friendship in a similar way to that between Cicero and Atticus as declared in Cicero’s famous writing on friendship? If so, why hide the woman’s identity? This still does not explain why their relationship is “therefore, by, with, from, through” or “of” this friendship.
Perhaps the meaning is metaphorical rather than a literal translation?
Atticus was a Roman citizen holding the rank of an equestrian knight. Here we might re-examine the meaning for another interpretation which is that this young man is the result of the love of a man who is of equestrian rank.
In 1558 Elizabeth appointed Robert Dudley her Master of Horse. Was the young man making a statement of who his parents are in an arcane and subtle way?
What of the lady’s hand from the cloud? Is the black and white lace a clue as to her identity? Is the hidden woman his mother as opposed to a lover?
What of the date of 1588? A young man calling himself Arthur Dudley was arrested in Santander after being shipwrecked on Spain’s northern Coast. It appears that Philip II believed his story and paid Arthur a stipend to remain at the Spanish Court, in effect, this Arthur was a prisoner. In the autumn of 1588 Walsingham is told by his spies in Madrid that this young man, Arthur had died. For the full story of this evidence read, The Secret Life of Elizabeth I by Dr Doherty where he cites his sources at the end of each chapter.
In early September 1588 we know that Elizabeth celebrated the defeat of the Spanish Armada when she received the news that her beloved Dudley had died on his way to Buxton. We know that she locked herself in her room consumed with inconsolable grief until the door was forced. This is pure conjecture but what if there had also been news from Spain that the young man calling himself Arthur Dudley was also dead? How could she have functioned having lost both her adored Robin and her child - a child the world did not know existed. A child who perhaps was supposed to rise from the ashes of her death, like a phoenix - another of Elizabeth’s emblems - and claim the English throne to become King Arthur and who according to legend, will be England’s once and future king – Rex Quondam, Rex Futuris. It was a legend that was already linked with the Tudor dynasty and one that Elizabeth loved.
Unknown man, Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley
This is only a suggestion on an identity for Hilliard’s Unknown Young Man, readers will have to examine the portraits above for family resemblances, study the evidence, consider the writer's theory regarding the meaning behind the Latin motto and draw your own conclusions.
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