Unknown man, formerly known as Thomas Blood
3 of 48 portraits by Gilbert Soest
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Unknown man, formerly known as Thomas Blood
attributed to Gilbert Soest
oil on canvas, 1670s
23 in. x 18 in. (584 mm x 457 mm)
Purchased, 1876
Primary Collection
NPG 418
Sitterback to top
- Thomas Blood (1618?-1680), Adventurer; attempted to steal Crown jewels. Sitter associated with 9 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Gilbert Soest (circa 1605-1681), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 48 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Piper, David, Catalogue of Seventeenth Century Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery, 1625-1714, 1963, p. 28
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 690
Events of 1670back to top
Current affairs
Charles II mistress, Barbara Villiers, is created Duchess of Cleveland and granted Nonsuch Palace including its sizeable grounds.Actress and royal mistress, Nell Gwyn, gives birth to Charles II's son, Charles, who would later become, Duke of St. Albans.
Art and science
Tragicomedy, The Forc'd Marriage, by Aphra Behn, staged by the Duke's Company, starts Behn's career as a professional writer. The writer may have been a royalist spy towards the end of the interregnum.Poet laureate, John Dryden, is made historiographer royal, a post he would hold for nearly 20 years.
International
Terms of a secret treaty between Charles II and Louis XIV are brought by Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans during a visit to Dover; upon England supplying the majority of military power for a war against Holland and Charles's official conversion to Catholicism, France would assist financially.Comments back to top
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