Case study 2 - new research on a 16th Century double portrait

Gerlach Flicke and Henry Strangwish by Gerlach Flicke

This small painting depicts the German artist Gerlach Flicke (1545-1558) when resident in London, with his friend the English gentleman-privateer Henry Strangwish (died 1562).

This highly unusual double portrait was painted when both men were in prison - probably the Tower of London - Strangwish for piracy and Flicke for an unknown crime. It is the earliest surviving self-portrait in oils produced in England. We don't know when Flicke came to England but he was certainly in London by 1546 and died here in 1558.

Flicke also painted a large-scale portrait of Archbishop Cranmer, also in the National Portrait Gallery.

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