While the craze for Lover’s Eye miniatures flourished from the 1790s through the 1820s—spurred on by the Prince of Wales’ famously illicit romance with Maria Fitzherbert—this brooch plays with the tradition, subverting its secrecy with mythological grandeur. Unlike the furtive glances exchanged through those intimate eye miniatures, this piece does not hide its sentiment behind anonymity. Instead, it borrows from the classical lexicon of love and virtue, presenting not a lover’s eye, but a...