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King Edward IV

2 of 37 portraits of King Edward IV

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King Edward IV

by Unknown artist
oil on panel, 1597-1618
22 1/2 in. x 17 5/8 in. (572 mm x 448 mm)
Purchased, 1974
Primary Collection
NPG 4980(10)

Sitterback to top

  • King Edward IV (1442-1483), Reigned 1461-70 and 1471-83. Sitter associated with 37 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Unknown artist, Artist. Artist or producer associated with 6580 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Smartify image discovery app
  • Cannadine, Sir David (Introduction); Cooper, Tarnya; Stewart, Louise; MacGibbon, Rab; Cox, Paul; Peltz, Lucy; Moorhouse, Paul; Broadley, Rosie; Jascot-Gill, Sabina, Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits, 2018 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA, 7 October 2018 -3 February 2019. Bendigo Art Gallery, Australia, 16 March - 14 July 2019.), p. 39
  • Cooper, Tarnya, Elizabeth I & Her People, 2013 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 10 October 2013 - 5 January 2014), p. 13
  • Cooper, Tarnya; Fraser, Antonia (foreword), A Guide to Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, 2012, p. 26 Read entry

    These portraits of monarchs from William the Conqueror to Mary I presented a remarkable display of visual history and continuity. This set used to hang at Hornby Castle in Yorkshire and may have been commissioned for a long gallery. While some of the portraits were based on existing images, such as Richard III, they were frequently based on imaginary sources popularised by books on the history of Britain printed in the late 1500s and early 1600s.

    Although these sets were probably quite popular at the time, only a few survive intact today. Examples can be seen at Montacute House and Hardwick Hall.

  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 195
  • Williamson, David, Kings and Queens, 2010, p. 73

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Portrait setback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1597back to top

Current affairs

Philip II of Spain launches another armada against England. As in 1588, the fleet is dispersed by a storm, which is celebrated as divine intervention.
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex is made Earl Marshall.
Charles Howard, Baron Howard of Effingham is created Earl of Nottingham.
King James VI of Scotland (later James I of England) publishes Daemonologie, an attack on witchcraft that incites a fever for witch-hunts.

Art and science

William Shakespeare writes The Merchant of Venice.
The musician John Dowland publishes The First Booke of Songes or Ayres, the most successful music publication of the period.

International

Philip II of Spain opens peace negotiations with Henry IV of France after his army in the Spanish Netherlands fails to defeat the forces of France or the Protestant United Provinces of the northern Netherlands.
The Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi launches a second invasion of Korea.

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