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John Dryden

4 of 31 portraits of John Dryden

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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John Dryden

by James Maubert
oil on canvas, after 1700
22 1/2 in. x 19 3/4 in. (572 mm x 502 mm)
Purchased, 1898
Primary Collection
NPG 1133

Sitterback to top

  • John Dryden (1631-1700), Dramatist and Poet Laureate. Sitter associated with 31 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • James Maubert (1666-1746), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 3 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Maubert's modest portrait may have been painted for the bookseller Jacob Tonson, founder of the Kit-Cat Club, who published Dryden's works. The painting symbolises the poet's classical influences and inspiration, notably in the pile of books on the table - labelled Montaigne, Horace, Virgil, Homer - and the distant view of Parnassus and Helicon home to the mythological Muses.

Linked publicationsback to top

Events of 1700back to top

Current affairs

The sudden death of Prince William, son of Princess Anne and George, Prince of Denmark, triggers a succession crisis. His birth had secured the succession of the crown to a Protestant, safeguarding the throne from any future claim by James II's Catholic son, James Francis.

Art and science

Dramatist, William Congreve's comedy The Way of the World premieres at Lincoln's Inn Theatre, receiving a mixed reception. It would achieve greater literary acclaim in modern times.
Poet, John Dryden, dies and is buried in Geoffrey Chaucer's grave in Westminster Abbey.

International

Diplomat and poet, Matthew Prior, secretly negotiates with Louis XIV, king of France, a second partition treaty concerning the Spanish Empire. However, following the death of Spanish ruler, Carlos II, the agreement collapses since neither Spanish or Austrian governments accept the treaty's proposals.

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