Sir Walter Ralegh; Walter Ralegh
1 portrait matching these criteria:
- npg number matching '3914'
Sir Walter Ralegh; Walter Ralegh
by Unknown artist
oil on canvas, 1602
78 1/2 in. x 50 1/8 in. (1994 mm x 1273 mm)
Given by Lennard family, 1954
Primary Collection
NPG 3914
Sitters
Sir Walter Ralegh (1552-1618), Soldier, sailor, poet and writer. Sitter associated with 43 portraits.
Walter Ralegh (1593-1618), Eldest son of Sir Walter Ralegh. Sitter in 1 portrait.
Artist
Unknown artist. Artist associated with 6491 portraits.
This Portrait
A military and naval commander and writer, Ralegh first caught Queen Elizabeth's eye in 1581. He was in favour for most of the 1580s but was imprisoned in 1592 for his part in an intrigue and subsequently forbidden to appear at court. This portrait was painted in 1602 when Ralegh was at the height of his renewed favour with the queen. It shows him together with his son Walter who is made to mimic his father's confident pose. Both father and son are dressed in splendid costumes; Ralegh's jacket is embroidered with seed pearls and his son's blue suit is silver-braided. A contemporary of Ralegh described him as 'framed in so just a proportion and so seemly an order, as there was nothing in him that a man might well wish to have been added or altered'.
Linked Publications
Sound Guide
Nicholl, Charles, Character Sketches: Elizabethan Writers, 1997, p. 51
Nicholl, Charles, Insights: Shakespeare and His Contemporaries, 2005, p. 98
Ribeiro, Aileen, The Gallery of Fashion, 2000, p. 56
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 511
Strong, Roy, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, 1969, p. 257
Subjects & Themes
Carpets and textiles
Children
Hats and head-attire
Shadows
Shields and swords
On display in Room 2 at the National Portrait Gallery
