The Seven Bishops committed to the Tower in 1688

Inscriptionback to top

Signed on the reverse in the exergue: G.B.F.
Obverse: William Sancroft (1617-93) lettered GVIL.SANCROFT ARCHIEPISC.CANTUAR. 1688
Reverse: left to right
Top row:
GVIL EP.S. ASAP. [William Lloyd (1612-1717)]
FRANC.BP/.EL. [Francis Turner (1638?-1700)]

Middle row
IOAN.EP.CICESTR. [John Lake (1624-89)]
HENR.EP LONDIN [Henry Compton (1632-1713)]
THO.EP.BATH ET.WEL: [Thomas Ken (1637-1711)]

Bottom row:
THO.EP PETRIBVRG [Thomas White (1628-98)]
IOAN.EP.BRISTOL. [Sir John Trelawny, 3rd Bt. (1650-1721)]

This portraitback to top

See NPG 79. NPG 152a appears the best of the four similar medals listed in Medallic Illustrations. [1]
Bishop Compton is added to the Seven Bishops due to his consistent opposition to James II, which had led to his removal from the Council, from the Deanery of the Chapel Royal and from his Bishopric. He appears on the reverse in the central position.

Footnotesback to top

1) Medallic Illustrations of The History of Great Britain and Ireland, British Museum, 1907, lxvi/2-3,6-7.

Referenceback to top

Medallic Illustrations of The History of Great Britain and Ireland, British Museum, 1907, lxvi/1.

Piper 1963
D. Piper, Catalogue of the Seventeenth Century Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery 1625-1714, 1963, p 391.

Provenanceback to top

Presented by John Ashton Bostock 1862.

Exhibitionsback to top

Glorieuze Revolutie, Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam, 1988, no.178.


This extended catalogue entry is from the National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Later Stuart Portraits 1685–1714, National Portrait Gallery, 2009, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.

View all known portraits for Henry Compton

View all known portraits for Thomas Ken

View all known portraits for John Lake

View all known portraits for William Lloyd

View all known portraits for William Sancroft

View all known portraits for Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 3rd Bt

View all known portraits for Francis Turner

View all known portraits for Thomas White