John Evelyn

John Evelyn

by Robert Walker
oil on canvas, 1648
34 5/8 in. x 25 1/4 in. (879 mm x 641 mm)
Purchased with help from The Art Fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Dame Helen Gardner Bequest, 1992
Primary Collection
NPG 6179

Sitter

John Evelyn (1620-1706), Diarist and virtuoso. Sitter associated with 13 portraits, Artist associated with 2 portraits.

Artist

Robert Walker (died 1658), Painter. Artist associated with 122 portraits, Sitter associated with 3 portraits.

This Portrait

Evelyn records in his Diary that he sat to Walker on 1 July 1648, and that his portrait was intended to accompany a treatise on marriage which he had written for his young wife Mary Browne. The portrait originally showed him holding a miniature or medal of his wife. The skull was substituted some years later, with the Greek motto (top) signifying: 'Repentance is the beginning of Wisdom', and the quotation in Latin from Seneca on the importance of preparing for death.

Linked Publications

Sound Guide
The National Portrait Gallery, 1997, p. 61
Jordanova, Ludmilla, Defining Features: Scientific and Medical Portraits 1660-2000, 2000 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 14 April - 17 September 2000), p. 12
Ollard, Richard, Character Sketches: Samuel Pepys and His Circle, 2000, p. 40
Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery: an illustrated guide, 2000, p. 61
Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery, 1997, p. 61
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 211

Subject/Theme

Skulls and bones