Oval, on a rectangular ground, within a rectangular dark-stained fruitwood veneer frame, 4.5cm.
The miniature, which has the appearance of having been reduced from a larger piece, was part of an immense bequest from Elizabeth, Countess of Devonshire (1619-1689), to her only daughter Anne, Countess of Exeter (1649-1703).
The bequest, which added very considerably to the collections at Burghley, is recorded in an inventory known as the 1690 Devonshire Schedule, or Deed of Gift.
This lists:’A picture of two heads of Venus and Cupid.’
