William Lenthall

1 portrait

© National Portrait Gallery, London

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation Close

William Lenthall

by Samuel Cooper
watercolour on vellum, 1652
2 1/8 in. x 1 3/4 in. (54 mm x 44 mm) oval
Bequeathed by Emslie John Horniman, 1935
Primary Collection
NPG 2766

On display in Room 5 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery

Sitterback to top

  • William Lenthall (1591-1662), Speaker of the House of Commons. Sitter in 9 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Samuel Cooper (1608?-1672), Miniature painter. Artist or producer associated with 111 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Cooper, John, A Guide to the National Portrait Gallery, 2009, p. 25 Read entry

    Elected Speaker of the Long Parliament in 1640, he sided with Parliament during the Civil Wars, was Speaker of Oliver Cromwell’s first Protectorate parliament in 1654, and of the reconstituted Long Parliament in 1659. He supported the restoration of Charles II in 1660.

  • Foskett, Daphne, Samuel Cooper, 1974 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 15 March - 15 June 1974), p. 27
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 377
  • Walker, Richard, Miniatures: 300 Years of the English Miniature, 1998, p. 35 Read entry

    William Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons during the Long Parliament, was, according to John Aubrey, a wise man who managed difficult situations (for example, the arrest of the Five Members and Cromwell's dismissal of the Rump) with skill and dignity (John Aubrey, Brief Lives, ed. Anthony Powell, London, 1949, p 246).

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1652back to top

Current affairs

Politician, Sir Henry Vane, the younger, in promoting English liberties on Scotland rather than pursing its annexation, achieves its nominal consent for inclusion to the emerging republican commonwealth.

Art and science

Nicholas Culpeper, herbalist and astrologer, publishes The English Physitian. Extensively illustrated, Culpeper book written in the tradition of astrological medicine, lists native medicinal herbs indexed to common diseases.
Architect, Inigo Jones dies at Somerset House.
Clergyman, Peter Heylyn, publishes Cosmographie, a comprehensive description of the known world.

International

First Anglo-Dutch war, fought entirely at sea, erupts principally over trade disputes. General at Sea, Robert Blake, leads the navy in the first encounters against the Dutch navy commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp.
Oliver Cromwell's Act of Settlement of Ireland imposes death penalties and confiscates land from Irish Catholics.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.