Does Nicholas Hilliard's Sexiest Miniature Depict the Shakespearean Actor Nathan Field?

Left: Unknown Man Before Background of Flames by Nicholas Hilliard c. 1600 (Victoria & Albert Museum). Right: Nathan Field c.1615 by William Larkin (Dulwich Picture Gallery).

Nicholas Hilliard's miniature masterpiece Unknown Man Against Background of Flames was described by Professor Erna Auerbach as “a striking picture of human tragedy.”

Here, the sitter, whoever he was, does not matter, but the intense feeling which his image expressed, moves and touches us profoundly.  As if it were a symbol of burning love, the card on which the parchment is pasted is the ace of hearts.  The “burning” lover wears a fine linen shirt, wide open in front, a locket hangs on a long chain and he presses it with his left hand against his heart, as if it contained the picture of his beloved mistress, and, in strong contrast to the white of the garment, the noble and ecstatic face with dark hair and beard, turn to the right, looks at us with fanatical eyes.

But Professor Auerbach also made the confounding comment that the identity of the sitter didn't much matter, and likewise when I was researching the miniature an assistant at the Victoria & Albert Museum confided to me the museum had little desire to identify the unknown sitter as its anonymity lent the piece mystery. Needless to say, I disagreed.

In the comparison above, the sitter on the right, said to have been painted by William Larkin c. 1615, is identified via the Cartwright Inventory as Nathan Field, a Blackfriar actor born in 1587 to a Puritan clergyman who described plays as "Heathenish Enterludes." Young Nat was said to have been kidnapped at age thirteen by the Children of the Chapel, an acting troupe house in the Blackfriars Theater. Field likely started his career playing women's roles and went on to become one of the most celebrated actors of his days, a thespian compared to the great Burbage in Jonson's Batholomew Fair.

Nat Field was also a playwright who penned at least two comedies and collaborated with the likes of Chapman, Fletcher, and Beaumont. A self-styled lady's man, Field was famous for his passions and jealousies. One surviving epigram claimed this was why Field had acted the role of Othello so well. Another epigram recalled Field's pining love for his mistress Lady May (supposedly an earl's wife he impregnated). So overwhelming was the "heat" of his passion that the last line of that epigram laments, "Poor Field will burn e'ven in the midst of May."

Could Lady May's face be painted onto the portrait miniature the pining sitter is holding to his heart?

Field's name appeared in the 1623 First Folio as one of the principal actors of Shakespeare's plays, a man who knew and maybe even collaborated with Shakespeare, all of which would call into question Professor Auerbach's contention that the identity of unknown sitters doesn't matter.

 
Notes:

--The similarities between the two sitters are obvious, but do note the ear shape. Also bear in mind that eye color can be meaningless in identification because pigment color changes over time and in this instance Hilliard painted the "fanatical" eyes of his sitter as reflecting fire.

--As to costume, these are the only two Elizabethan portraits I’ve ever come across in which men posed in their linen shirts. The V&A has not replied to my emails requesting help in dating the miniatures by costume.

--Auerbach dated the fiery miniature to c. 1600 based only on painting style yet we know Hilliard continued to paint well into the Jacobean period. It's very possible the fiery miniature was painted later in Hilliard's career than 1600. The Larkin portrait is dated 1615. 

--Field's biographer Eliane Verhasselt suggested the above-right portrait of Nat Field might depict the actor posing as the love-struck lead from Chapman's play The Tragedy of Bussy D'Ambois.

--The above images are used in comparisons for the purpose of identification and therefore fall under Fair Use laws.