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Description: | Oil on canvas. On the reverse of the painting is the inscription: ‘Tho: Ross Pinxt From an original Picture of Secretary Thurloe in the possession of Mrs Brace.’ It is not known who Mrs Brace was. Another version of the painting is held in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Both portraits are closely related to two drawings of Thurloe by I. Bullfinch at the British Museum and Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. There is also an engraved portrait of Thurloe by engraver and antiquary George Vertue, published in 1741, which includes lettering stating that the image is taken ‘from the Original Pictures [sic], in the possession of the family descendants of Secr: Thurloe.’ The whereabouts of that original portrait, which probably inspired this painting and Bullfinch’s drawings, is no longer known.
This work was sold by Robert Berwicke-Copley, fifth Baron Cromwell, in November 1925. The Copley family are descendants of Cromwell and it is has been suggested that that Katherine Moyle (née Copley), daughter of the First Baron Cromwell (1653–1709), commissioned the work. | Subjects: | English Civil War 17th century costume seal paper Secretary of State ink pot/ink stand male portrait quill table man John Thurloe secretary | Source: | Government Art Collection | Creator: | Thomas Ross | Identifier: | http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?... | Go to resource |
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