Face-to-face:
English Heritage through portraits
Exploring the history of portraiture at English Heritage properties
Portraiture is one of the world's oldest art forms.
Ever since we first saw our own reflections in still water, polished metal or glass, humans have been fascinated by our own image.
Before the invention of photography in 1839, drawn, painted or sculpted portraits were the sole method of recording an individual's likeness for posterity.
Portraits also carry social and cultural capital. For centuries, portraits have projected power, flattered, and demonstrated good taste, learning or other qualities of a sitter.
A Roman bust from Lullingstone Roman Villa
A Roman bust from Lullingstone Roman Villa
Portraits from The Wernher Collection on display at Ranger's House
Portraits from The Wernher Collection on display at Ranger's House
The earliest portrait likenesses date back more than 3,000 years, to Roman Egypt. Portraiture was widely practiced by Classical Greeks, Romans and other early cultures.
Portraiture has been a popular genre in England for centuries. It began to flourish in elite European medieval memorial sculpture. By the 16th century, portrait painting had been embraced by a wide range of Western society.
Today, English Heritage sites display numerous portraits in stone, ceramic, ink, plaster and paint.
Here is a selection of our favourites!
1. The public portrait
- Who? Queen Eleanor of Castile (c.1241–1290)
- Medium: Limestone
- Date: 1295
- Where to see it? Eleanor Cross at Geddington
Standing in the village of Geddington, Northamptonshire, is part of a commemorative scheme to mark the progress of the funeral procession for Eleanor of Castile, who died in 1290.
Her grief-stricken husband King Edward I commissioned 12 stone crosses at each place the body rested overnight on its 200-mile journey from Nottinghamshire to her tomb in Westminster Abbey, London.
Portrait of Queen Eleanor of Castile on the Eleanor Cross, Geddington
Portrait of Queen Eleanor of Castile on the Eleanor Cross, Geddington
This triangular monument is the best preserved of only three remaining intact 'Eleanor Crosses', and bears three sculpted portraits of Eleanor.
A 3D model of the Geddington cross (produced by Historic England using a 'Structure from motion' digital photogrammetric survey)
She is shown holding her hand to her heart, and her wavy hair can just be seen emerging from her veil and coronet.
2. The idealised portrait
- What? Portrait dish
- Artist: Unknown maker, style of Nicola Pellipario (c.1480–1537)
- Medium: Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)
- From: Casteldurante, Italy
- Date: c.1530
- Where to see it? Ranger's House – The Wernher Collection
This colourful tin-glazed earthenware dish is typical of the bella donna ('beautiful woman') style.
Portrait dish, part of The Wernher Collection. On loan from the Wernher Foundation
Portrait dish, part of The Wernher Collection. On loan from the Wernher Foundation
These pieces featuring attractive female portraits became popular in the early 16th-century in parts of Italy such as Urbino and Casteldurante. The woman depicted on this dish is identified in the inscribed scroll as 'Beautiful Portia' ('Portia Bela').
3. The miniature portrait
- Who? Sir Thomas Griffin of Dingley (c.1580–1615)
- Artist: Nicholas Hilliard (1547–1619)
- Medium: Watercolour on vellum; card
- Date: 1599
- Where to see it? Audley End House and Gardens
The goldsmith and limner (miniaturist) Nicholas Hilliard produced exquisite miniature portraits of nobles and courtiers.
This portrait depicts the courtier Sir Thomas Griffin of Dingley Hall in Northamptonshire – the ancestral home of Sir John Griffin Griffin, who inherited Audley End in 1762 and is best remembered for the substantial improvements he made to the house and gardens.
The miniature bears the inscription ‘Anno Domini 1599, Aetatis Suae 20’, helpfully informing us that the sitter was age 20 at the time the portrait was taken in 1599.
Sir Thomas Griffin of Dingley, c.1580–1615 by Nicholas Hilliard. On loan from a private collection
Sir Thomas Griffin of Dingley, c.1580–1615 by Nicholas Hilliard. On loan from a private collection
The artist shows his great skill in painting the highly detailed lace of the collar, the buoyant curls with a lovelock (a long lock of hair), and delicate gilded script.
4. The retouched portrait
- Who? Diana Cecil, 1st Countess of Elgin (1596–1654)
- Artist: Cornelius Johnson (1593–1661)
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Date: 1634
- Where to see it? Kenwood
Diana Cecil was from a prominent noble family and was renowned as a great beauty.
This portrait shows her in her 30s, wearing a fashionable dress adorned with roses and holding a fan decorated with roses.
Diana Cecil, 1st Countess of Elgin by Cornelius Johnson
Diana Cecil, 1st Countess of Elgin by Cornelius Johnson
It has recently undergone conservation, removing layers of yellowed varnish to uncover the date and signature of the artist, confirming that the portrait is by the leading portrait painter, Cornelius Johnson.
Portrait of Diana Cecil (1634) by Cornelius Johnson with later additions (left); and as it is now, restored to the original (right)
Portrait of Diana Cecil (1634) by Cornelius Johnson with later additions (left); and as it is now, restored to the original (right)
The restoration work also revealed that the painting had been re-touched by later artists to make the sitter's lips fuller and forehead smaller to better suit changing ideals of beauty.
5. The power portrait
- Who? Pope Innocent X (1574–1655)
- Artist: Diego Velázquez (1599–1660)
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Date: c.1651
- Where to see it? Apsley House
This striking portrait of Pope Innocent X by the Spanish painter, Velázquez, is one of the most accomplished portraits in the English Heritage collection.
Emerging from a gloomy backdrop, the Pope sits starkly lit in his shiny red papal robes.
Pope Innocent X by Diego Velázquez
Pope Innocent X by Diego Velázquez
The artist has used different painting techniques to guide the viewer's eye around the portrait. The highly detailed realistic rendering of the face draws focus into the Pope's piercing gaze. The surrounding areas are more loosely painted, leaving the artist's confident brushstrokes clearly visible.
6. The self-portrait
- What? Self-Portrait with Two Circles
- Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669)
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Date: c.1665
- Where to see it? Kenwood
The Dutch artist Rembrandt is most famous for around 80 self-portraits he made during his life. This self-portrait was one of the largest and the last he made, when he was 59.
It is also rare in that the artist is represented not in a theatrical guise but as himself: a painter standing in his studio, holding his palette and brushes.
Self-Portrait with Two Circles by Rembrandt
Self-Portrait with Two Circles by Rembrandt
The meaning of the two circles in the background has been the subject of much debate. Are they diagrams representing theory and practice? Maps of the eastern and western hemispheres? Or mystic symbols representing the perfection of God?
- Self-portrait with Two Circles by Rembrandt is currently on loan to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna for ‘Rembrandt and Hoogstraten: Colour & Illusion (8 October 2024 – 12 January 2025). For the duration of the exhibition, Kenwood is delighted to host Peter Paul Rubens' last self-portrait (1638/40), generously lent to English Heritage by the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
'Life etches itself onto our faces as we grow older, showing our violence, excesses or kindnesses.'
7. The political portrait
- Who? Mohammed Ohadu (Ahmed Hadu, Hamet ben Hadu, Ben Hadu Otter)
- Artist: Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723) and Jan Wyck (1645–1700)
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Date: 1684
- Where to see it? Chiswick House
Mohammed Ohadu was the Moroccan Ambassador to England, where he spent six months from December 1681 until July 1682.
The Moroccan Ambassador: Portrait of Mohammed Ohadu (Ahmed Hadu, Hamet ben Hadu, Ben Hadu Otter), by Sir Godfrey Kneller and Jan Wyck
The Moroccan Ambassador: Portrait of Mohammed Ohadu (Ahmed Hadu, Hamet ben Hadu, Ben Hadu Otter), by Sir Godfrey Kneller and Jan Wyck
While he was in the country negotiating the terms of a peace treaty for Tangier, Mohammed Ohadu became famous for his displays of horsemanship in Hyde Park, London.
It is thought that this portrait of 1684, by collaborating artists Sir Godfrey Kneller and Jan Wyck, is based on a portrait from two years earlier made during the Ambassador's visit.
8. The portrait of a patron
- Who? Henrietta Howard, 9th Countess of Suffolk (1689–1767)
- Artist: Charles Jervas (1675–1739)
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Date: c.1724
- Where to see it? Marble Hill
Henrietta Howard overcame much adversity in her early life, including poverty and domestic violence, to enjoy her later years in her Thames villa, Marble Hill.
This stunning portrait of female empowerment was painted the year that initial designs to build Marble Hill were underway. It is likely that the buildings in the background allude to her grand plans.
Henrietta Howard, 9th Countess of Suffolk by Charles Jervas
Henrietta Howard, 9th Countess of Suffolk by Charles Jervas
Commissioned by her close friend and Twickenham neighbour, the poet Alexander Pope, the portrait was to be paired with one of another impressive 18th-century woman, the writer Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.
After Pope's death, the portrait was displayed at Strawberry Hill, the home of another of Henrietta's illustrious friends, Horace Walpole.
9. The family portrait
- Who? Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and William Erasmus Darwin (1839–1914)
- Artist: Antoine François Jean Claudet (1797–1867) (attributed to)
- Medium: Daguerreotype, metal; glass; leather
- Date: c.1842
- Where to see it? Home of Charles Darwin – Down House
This daguerreotype of Charles Darwin and his eldest son William Erasmus, aged 2 ½, is the only known picture of Charles with another member of his family.
The image is thought to have been taken on 23 August 1842, shortly before the family moved to Down House.
A daguerrotype of Charles Darwin with his first child, William Erasmus
A daguerrotype of Charles Darwin with his first child, William Erasmus
Known as 'sun pictures', daguerreotypes were invented in 1839 by Louis Daguerre, shortly after the invention of photography itself.
The method involved exposing a light sensitive emulsion coated over a polished metal plate to fix an image. The process took about a minute – Darwin would have needed to hold his young son firmly to ensure he didn't move during this time.
10. The pet portrait
- Who? Prairie Prince
- Artist: William Henry Hamilton Trood (1860–1899)
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Date: 1897
- Where to see it? Brodsworth Hall and Gardens
Humans have historically kept animals for security, status, food, hunting, manual work and companionship.
The 18th and 19th centuries saw the rise in pet ownership, and a rising market for pet portraiture. (You can read more about Queen Victoria's pets and admire some of her pet portraits here.)
Prairie Prince by William Henry Hamilton Trood, 1897
Prairie Prince by William Henry Hamilton Trood, 1897
This painting reveals the name of the dog, Prairie Prince, inscribed on the spine of the book, and that of his owner, Mrs Thellusson, on the letter.
The late-Victorian owners of Brodsworth Hall, Elizabeth and Peter Thellusson, were particularly fond of their dogs and commissioned the artist William Henry Hamilton Trood to paint portraits of them, which still hang in the Morning Room at Brodsworth Hall today.
Many of the family dogs were buried in a pets' cemetery in the gardens.
11. The sculpted portrait
- Who? Virginia Courtauld (1873–1972)
- Artist: Filippo Lovatelli (1874–1952)
- Medium: Marble
- Date: 1924
- Where to see it? Eltham Palace and Gardens
Virginia Courtauld was the owner and creator of Eltham Palace.
This marble bust of Virginia was probably commissioned by her husband, Stephen, in Rome in 1923, the year of their marriage. The sculptor, Count Filippo Lovatelli, was an eccentric character, said to have once taken part in a duel.
A white marble bust of Virginia Courtauld by Count Filippo Lovatelli
A white marble bust of Virginia Courtauld by Count Filippo Lovatelli
The warm tone of the Siena marble used for the base makes the pure white bust even more striking.
12. The contemporary portrait
- Who? Dido Belle (1761–1804)
- Artist: Mikéla Henry-Lowe (b.1993)
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Date: 2021
- Where to see it: Kenwood
Dido Elizabeth Belle was the illegitimate daughter of a young black woman named Maria Bell and a Royal Naval officer, Sir John Lindsay.
She spent much of her life at Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath, being raised in the aristocratic family of her great-uncle William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield. He was the Lord Chief Justice, and presided over a number of court cases that examined the legality of the slave trade.
Dido Belle by Mikéla Henry-Lowe
Dido Belle by Mikéla Henry-Lowe
This painting by Mikéla Henry-Lowe was commissioned as part of English Heritage's 'Painting our Past: The African Diaspora in England' series.
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