'The Candle is lighted, we can not blow out' (Leading Theologians of the Protestant Reformation)

'The Candle is lighted, we can not blow out' (Leading Theologians of the Protestant Reformation), published by John Garrett, after 1673 - NPG D24005 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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'The Candle is lighted, we can not blow out' (Leading Theologians of the Protestant Reformation)

published by John Garrett
line engraving, after 1673
10 1/8 in. x 14 5/8 in. (257 mm x 372 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D24005

Artistback to top

  • John Garrett (active 1676-1697), Publisher and bookseller. Artist associated with 1 portrait.

Sittersback to top

  • Theodorus Beza (de Bèze) (1519-1605), French reformer. Sitter in 5 portraits.
  • Martin Bucer (Butzer) (1491-1551), Protestant reformer. Sitter in 13 portraits.
  • Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575), Swiss reformer. Sitter in 7 portraits.
  • John Calvin (1509-1564), French theologian. Sitter in 9 portraits.
  • John Hus (circa 1373-1415), Bohemian reformer. Sitter in 4 portraits.
  • John Knox (circa 1514-1572), Scottish reformer and historian. Sitter associated with 35 portraits.
  • Martin Luther (1483-1546), German religious reformer. Sitter associated with 17 portraits.
  • Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560), German protestant reformer. Sitter in 6 portraits.
  • Jacob of Mies (circa 1350-1429), Bohemian reformer and theologian. Sitter in 1 portrait.
  • William Perkins (1558-1602), Puritan divine. Sitter in 17 portraits.
  • Pietro Vermigli (1499-1562), Reformer, Theologian and known as 'Peter Martyr'. Sitter in 15 portraits.
  • John Wyclif (Wycliffe) (1324?-1384), Religious reformer and theologian. Sitter associated with 21 portraits.
  • Jerome Zanchius (1516-1590), Italian Protestant Reformation clergyman. Sitter in 2 portraits.
  • Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531), Leader of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland. Sitter in 5 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This seventeenth-century image shows a cardinal, the devil, the pope and a monk attempting to blow out the candle of Protestantism that sits before Martin Luther at the centre of the table.

Placesback to top

Portrait setback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1673back to top

Current affairs

Controversially, James, Duke of York marries a Catholic, Mary of Modena, daughter of Alfonso IV, Duke of Modena.
Parliament passes anti-Catholic legislation, the Test Act, which excludes recusants from public office. Officials are required to take an oath and deny the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.

Art and science

Poet laureate, John Dryden, influenced by the war against Holland, writes Amboyna, a tragedy about the Amboyna massacre,1623, when English sailors were murdered by Dutch traders in Indonesia.
The Chelsea Physic Garden is established by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries to train apprentices in plant identification.

International

War with Holland culminates in the Battle of Texel which effectively exhausts both sides, but results in a strategic Dutch victory. With tension mounting between the allies, lord of the Admiralty, Prince Rupert, blames the unsatisfactory outcome on French admiral d'Estrees, and poor provisions.

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