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John Milton

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John Milton

by William Faithorne
line engraving, 1670
8 1/8 in. x 6 in. (205 mm x 151 mm)
Purchased, 1880
Primary Collection
NPG 610

Sitterback to top

  • John Milton (1608-1674), Poet. Sitter associated with 72 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • William Faithorne (circa 1620-1691), Engraver and draughtsman. Artist associated with 720 portraits, Sitter associated with 4 portraits.

Related worksback to top

Linked publicationsback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

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.

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