Jeffrey Hudson
(1619-1682), Dwarf and favourite of Queen Henrietta MariaSitter associated with 8 portraits
Jeffrey Hudson was a dwarf who belonged to the court of Queen Henrietta Maria of England in the years before King Charles I was deposed. He was famous as the 'Queen's dwarf', and 'Lord Minimus', and was considered one of the wonders of the age because of his extreme but well-proportioned smallness. Hudson fought with the royalists in the civil wars and fled with the queen to France in 1644. When he killed a man in a duel in an apparent attempt to move beyond his mascot role, he was expelled from her court. Soon after, he was captured by Barbary pirates, and spent twenty-five years as a slave in North Africa before being ransomed back to England and living out the rest of his life in poverty.
Unknown man, formerly known as Jeffrey Hudson
by Unknown artist
oil on canvas, mid 17th century
NPG 1591
by Martin Droeshout
line engraving, published 1636
NPG D28512
after Unknown artist, published by William Richardson
line engraving, late 18th to early 19th century
NPG D28511
after Unknown artist, published by William Richardson
line engraving, late 18th to early 19th century
NPG D28515
Walter Persons and Jeffrey Hudson
by John Brand, after George Glover
pencil, 1791
NPG D28516
Jeffrey Hudson and King Charles I
by R. Page
stipple engraving, early 19th century
NPG D28514
after Unknown artist
coloured etching, early 19th century
NPG D17992
Unknown man engraved as Jeffrey Hudson
by James Stow, after Daniel Mytens, published by George Perfect Harding
line engraving, published 1810
NPG D28510
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