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 34 THE ANCESTOR in texture and finish ; and Samuel Shelley, two excellent portraits of Elizabeth Duchess of Rutland and the fifth Duke. Edward Duke of Somerset (1560)5 the Protector, is an excellent copy of the original miniature by Nicholas Hilliard, now in the possession of the Duke of Buccleuch. On the back of the frame is the inscription : ' Painted and presented to the Duke of Rutland, in Ireland, by Margaret Lady Lucan/ The following interesting correspondence occurs about this miniature in the Behoir Castle MSS, vol. ii. : Sir Joshua Reynolds to the Duke of Rutland. 1784, September 24, London. I dined with Lady Lucan last Sunday, who told me of her intention of painting a picture for your Grace, but was undetermined what it should be. I shall call on her to-morrow to acquaint her with what your Grace wishes about the Duke of Somerset's picture, which I should think would be the best thing for her to do. I question her success in an historical picture. Sir Joshua Reynolds to the Duke of Rutland. 1785, May 30, London. I acquainted Lady Lucan with your Grace's request, in your own words, as they were so flattering to her ladyship. She answered that she should set about it immediately, as she has now found a picture of the * Protector,' Duke of Somerset, which is in possession of the Marquis of Buckingham, but she says it is but an indifferent picture, and she fears her copy will be no great ornament to your cabinet. Sir Joshua did not possess the same high opinion of Lady Lucan's artistic merit as Horace Walpole, who in his Anecdotes on Painting thus praises her : ' Who has arrived at copying the most exquisite works of Isaac and Peter Oliver, Hoskins, and Cooper with a genius that almost depreciates those masters, when we consider that they spent their lives in attaining per- fection ; and who, soaring above their modest timidity, has transferred the vigour of Raphael to her copies in water colours ! ' A charming Greuze-like work of two young girls, Lady Elizabeth and Lady Katharine Manners (afterwards Lady E. Norman and Lady Forester), and a fine portrait of Isabella Countess of Sefton are by that industrious and clever artist Mrs. Mee. The ' early Victorian ' miniatures are but few in number. Henry Bone contributes a fine enamel of Elizabeth Duchess t