Henry Purcell

Sitterback to top

• Henry Purcell (1659-1695), Composer. Sitter associated with 11 portraits.

Artistback to top

• John Closterman (1660-1711). Artist associated with 62 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Portrait drawings became more popular in the seventeenth century but they were not as highly regarded as paintings. This chalk drawing is the only surviving example by the portrait painter John Closterman. It may have been intended as a preliminary study for a painting that remains unknown. On the back of the drawing is a study for an arm which could also relate to the final oil portrait. This drawing was, however, prized on its own merits. In 1698, it was published as the frontispiece to Purcell's Orpheus Britannicus. The sketch was almost certainly taken from life and at one time belonged to the eighteenth-century musicologist Dr Charles Burney.

Linked publicationsback to top

• Ingamells, John, Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, 2009, p. 231
• Rogers, Malcolm, Master Drawings from the National Portrait Gallery, 1993 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 August to 23 October 1994), p. 27
• Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 508

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

• The Art of Drawing: Portraits from the Collection, 1670-1780 (19 October 2012 - 19 May 2013)

Subject/Themeback to top

• On display at the Gallery