Oval miniature in watercolour in an oval gilt metal suspension frame with a scroll label beneath bearing an engraved black-lettered inscription 'ROBERT. DEVEREUX. / LAST. EARL. OF ESSEX.' There is also an inscription on the reverse 'Robt Devarex Earl of Essex'.

The sitter is shown bust-length against a draped red velvet background, turned very slightly to his left but facing the viewer with the whole face and left side of his head visible. He has brown eyes, short auburn hair and a naturally curly reddish beard and slight moustache. He wears a doublet decorated with the devices of pairs of serpents in blue and simple yellow and blue 'wreaths', and wears a starched lace 'reticella' ruff over a partly gilded gorget round the neck, dress appropriate to his status as a nobleman, courtier and soldier. Serpents can be a symbol of both life and wisdom: their use here is notable in that each pair is differently intertwined, not a standard repeated pattern, and no parallel example on dress has yet been found. The pattern of the gorget and ruff, the cut of the doublet and the cut of beard and hair suggest a date of about 1610 or perhaps a little later based on the apparent age of the sitter, but rule out previous suggestion that he might be Robert, 2nd Earl of Essex (b.1565) who was executed for treason in 1601. While there is a passable father/son family likeness, portraits of the elder Robert also usually include the blue ribbon of the Lesser George badge of the Order of the Garter round the neck, not present here, since his son was not a member.

We are grateful to Professor Lou Taylor for advice (July 2023) on the dress and its dating, allowing reassessment of this item, although comparisons with other images (if extant) of the 3rd Earl remain to be made. The nature of the support (card, parchment or ivory) also remains to be determined.