Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
(1561-1621), Writer and literary patronSitter associated with 11 portraits
A writer, Mary Herbert was the sister of Sir Philip Sidney and his literary collaborator. Following his early death she became a noted supporter of the writers to whom he had acted as patron. Mary would eventually complete Sidney's paraphrasing of the Psalms and oversee the publication of his poems, including The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1593 and 1598)which her brother had dedicated to her.
Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
by Nicholas Hilliard
watercolour on vellum, circa 1590
NPG 5994
Unknown woman engraved as Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
by Jean de Courbes
line engraving, circa 1615-1640
NPG D27988
Unknown woman engraved as Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
by Jean de Courbes
line engraving, circa 1615-1640
NPG D5493
Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
by Simon de Passe, sold by William Peake
line engraving, 1618
NPG D27991
Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
by Simon de Passe, sold by John Sudbury, sold by George Humble
line engraving, circa 1618
NPG D19186
Unknown woman engraved as Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
after Unknown artist
line engraving, mid to late 17th century
NPG D27992
Unknown woman, formerly known as Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
by William Thomas Fry, after Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger
stipple engraving, early 19th century
NPG D27990
Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
by Burnet Reading, after Simon de Passe
line engraving, early 19th century
NPG D27993
Unknown woman, formerly known as Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
by James Tuck, after Harding
line engraving, early 19th century
NPG D28102
Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
by E. Bocquet, published by John Scott
stipple engraving, published 20 May 1806
NPG D27989
Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
by E. Bocquet, published by John Scott
stipple engraving, published 20 May 1806
NPG D3857
Related People
- Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester (brother)
- William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (son)
- Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke (son)
- Sir Henry Sidney (father)
- Lady Mary Sidney (née Dudley) (mother)
- Sir Philip Sidney (brother)
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Dilly Ward Bundy MA / Art History
15 August 2017, 12:41
This page confuses Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561 – 1621) with Mary Talbot Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (c 1580 –1649). The images need sorting out and two pages created.
Steve May
04 March 2019, 03:26
Friends, Mary Sidney Herbert (d. 1621) is certainly pictured in that famous miniature, the lead portrait here. She was mother (not wife) of William, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, and Philip, who succeeded as fourth Earl. But William was married to a Mary, Mary Talbot, daughter of Gilbert, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. William married her in 1604.
I'm suspicious that some of the portraits labeled 'Mary Sidney Herbert' are actually for 'Mary Talbot Herbert', but you're better able to decide that than I. If she's among the pictures, Mary Talbot was his wife, but Mary Sidney Herbert was his mother.