Sir Henry Sidney
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Sir Henry Sidney
by Unknown artist
oil on paper, late 16th century
12 in. x 11 in. (305 mm x 279 mm)
Purchased, 1936
Primary Collection
NPG 2823
On display in Room 2 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
Sitterback to top
- Sir Henry Sidney (1529-1586), Soldier and statesman. Sitter associated with 11 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This is a very rare example of a pattern designed as a record of facial likeness for use in the studio of an Elizabethan artist. The face pattern would have been used to produce multiple copies of the same portrait through a process of transfer. This pattern does not match Arnold Bronckhorst's portrait of Sidney and several different patterns of Henry Sidney's features must have been in existence, indicating a high demand for his portrait.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Cooper, John, A Guide to the National Portrait Gallery, 2009, p. 15
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 565
- Strong, Roy, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, 1969, p. 289
Events of 1570back to top
Current affairs
Pope Pius V issues a Papal 'bull' excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I from the Catholic Church. The bull provokes widespread anti-Catholicism in England.Elizabeth contemplates marriage with either Charles, Archduke of Austria or Henri, Duke of Anjou.
Art and science
Publication of The Scholemaster by the royal tutor Roger Ascham, which popularises the educational views of the English nobility.The mathematician and antiquary John Dee's preface to the first English translation of Euclid's Elements of Geometrie anticipates the experimental science of the seventeenth century.
The Italian architect Andrea Palladio published I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (The Four Books of Architecture).
International
Treaty of St Germain-en-Laye ends the Third War of Religion in France. Huguenots (French Protestants) are granted religious freedom and the Huguenot leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny becomes a dominant force at court.The Treaty of Stettin - Denmark agrees to recognise the independence of Sweden and Sweden abandons its claim to Norway.
Ivan IV (the Terrible), Tsar of Russia, oversees the Massacre of Novgorod.
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.