Tag Archives: Portrait

Alexander Pope 1688-1744

Pope was first noticed by Jacob Tonson who published his Pastorals in 1709. With The Rape of the Lock 1712, and his translations of Homer, Pope became the most formidable literary figure of his day, with a large circle of friends and enemies. Primarily a satirical poet and of unsurpassed metrical skill, he wrote ‘what oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed’. A friend of Swift & Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and famous in the history of landscape gardening for the grounds of his villa at Twickenham, he was revered as one of the great personalities of the age.

Artist: Charles Grignion,

Size 16 x 10 cms

Price £10.00

 

Ref:3061

John Dryden 1631-1700 Dramatist and Poet Laureate

Dryden was appointed Poet Laureate by Charles II in 1668. He wrote over twenty plays, including All for Love (1678), and numerous poems, particularly political satires, such as ‘Absalom and Achitophel’ (1681), and odes, including the famous ‘Ode for St Cecilia’s Day’. In 1686 he converted to Roman Catholicism, and at the Revolution of 1688 he was deprived of the laureateship. He devoted the rest of his life largely to translations, notably a verse translation of the works of Virgil.

Artist: Sir Godfrey Kneller,

Size 16 x 10 cms

Price £10.00

 

Ref:3056

Benjamin Johnson 1665-1742 Actor

Benjamin Jonson was an English playwright and poet, whose artistry exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours
Size 16 x 10 cms

Price £10.00

Ref:3055

Samuel Butler (1612-1680), Author of ‘Hudibras’

Butler was a writer whose poem, Hudibras, published in three parts (1662, 1663 and 1678), was an immediate success. Based on his experiences in the households of the Puritan gentry, it is an envenomed satirical attack on Puritanism, written in cantering octosyllabics, full of puns and outrageous rhymes. Charles II enjoyed it, and for a century it was a bestseller.

Artist: Sir Peter Lely

Size 16 x 9 cms

Price £10.00

Ref:3057

Anna Maria Porter 1780-1832 Novelist

Anna produced the humanitarian Tales of Pity on Fishing, Shooting and Hunting in 1814, and collaborated with her sister on collections of stories. In all, she published some thirty works, many being translated into French.

Subject gender: Female
Artist: George Henry Harlow
Size 13 x 11 cms

Price £10.00

Ref:3053

Henrietta Maria. Queen of England 1609-1669

The youngest daughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de Medici, Henrietta Maria married Charles I in 1625, her Catholicism alienated many of her English subjects. She gave strong, loving support to Charles I during his troubles, and practical assistance during the Civil War by personally bringing munitions from France, and pawning her jewellery to raise funds.

Subject gender: Female
Artist: Sir Anthony Van Dyck
Size 16 x 9.5 cms

Price £10.00

 

Ref:3117

Catherine of Braganza 1638-1705 queen of Charles II

The Roman Catholic queen of Charles II and daughter of John, Duke of Braganza, afterwards King of Portugal, Catherine came to England in 1662, bringing a dowry of Tangier, Bombay and £300,000. Shy, solemn and pious, she was devoted to Charles who, although he hurt her by his infidelities, was genuinely attached to her.

Subject gender: Female
Artist: John Smith, after Jacob Huysmans
Size 16 x 9 cms

Price £12.00

Ref:3070

John Okey 1606–1662

English soldier and member of Parliament, and one of the regicides of King Charles I.

Subject gender: Male
Artist: J. de Claussin,
Size 21 x 14 cms

Price £16.00

Ref:3049

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron 1788-1824

Byron was famous for his swaggering good looks and his brilliant, reckless personality. The publication of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812) made him famous overnight. He was also a scathing critic and his Don Juan (1819-24) is the ultimate satire of Regency society. He lived abroad from 1816 in self-imposed exile and became an attraction for English tourists. A lifelong supporter of liberal causes, he joined the Greeks in their fight against Ottoman rule but died of fever in Missolonghi in 1824.

Subject gender: Male
Artist: George Henry Harlow
Size 12 x 10 cms

Price £14.00

 

Ref:3050