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Henry Capel, Baron Capel of Tewkesbury

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Henry Capel, Baron Capel of Tewkesbury

by John Hoskins
watercolour on vellum, circa 1655
1 1/8 in. x 0 7/8 in. (27 mm x 23 mm) oval
Purchased, 1984
Primary Collection
NPG 5703

Sitterback to top

  • Henry Capel, Baron Capel of Tewkesbury (1638-1696), Establisher of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, politician and government official; son of 1st Baron Capel. Sitter associated with 3 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • John Hoskins (circa 1590-1665), Miniature painter. Artist or producer associated with 11 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Rogers, Malcolm, Master Drawings from the National Portrait Gallery, 1993 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 August to 23 October 1994), p. 25
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 101
  • Walker, Richard, Miniatures: 300 Years of the English Miniature, 1998, p. 29 Read entry

    Hoskins is believed to have retired in about 1645, and miniatures bearing his name and initials, painted after this date, now tend to be ascribed to his son, also John Hoskins. The portrait of Lord Capel shown here is a case in point, painted with a freedom of brush stroke far more characteristic of Samuel Cooper than of Hoskins the Elder. Capel was MP for Tewkesbury and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and his garden at Kew was bought much later by Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707-51), eventually becomig the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1655back to top

Current affairs

Secretary of State, John Thurloe, implements a highly efficient intelligence service and thwarts plans for a series of royalist uprisings which produced only Penruddock's revolt.
Following ineffectual royalist riots, Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, appoints nineteen Major-generals to manage regional government and prevent future challenges to the protectorate.

Art and science

Publication of the controversial work De corpore, by philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, prompts mathematician, John Wallis to scornfully refute the work in Elenchus geometriae Hobbianae, starting a bitter, long-running polemical dispute between the two men.



International

General Robert Venables and Admiral William Penn lead an expedition to the Caribbean to threaten Spanish trade routes and weaken Catholic influence in the New World. An integral part of Cromwell's foreign policy to curb Spanish power, the campaign, Cromwell's 'western design', fails leading to war in Europe.

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Arron W. E. Capel

15 May 2020, 11:23

Sir,
I have been gathering what little information is left about the life of Charles Capel, younger brother of Henry. There was about 18 months difference in their ages. Charles died of Smallpox on Christmas day 1656. He was 17 or 18 years old. (One of his elegies says he was 18.)
The image of Charles in the Capel Family portrait by Cornelius Johnson has been confused with that of Henry and a second image of Charles by Cornelius Johnson, painted at about the same time, was sold at auction as an image of Henry.

Tragically, Charles, a brilliant scholar at New College, died before he could achieve his potential.
He has been totally and justifiable eclipsed by the historical careers of his older brothers, Arthur and Henry.

When the identity of the subject of a painting is questionable, there would be a logical tenancy to
favor the famous

Sence the image of Henry, painted by John Hoskins could be Henry or Charles, what is the evidence that it is Henry?