Larger Image
Core Record |
||
| Title | Portrait of a Gentleman, Said to be Robert Blake | |
| Collection | Blake Museum, Bridgwater | |
| Artist | After Hanneman, Adriaen (Dutch painter, ca.1601-1671) Attributed to Baker, William Carmichael (British artist, 1815-1891) |
|
| Date Earliest | about 1860 | |
| Date Latest | 1862 | |
| Description | This is a copy after a portrait painted in 1634 by Adriaen Hanneman which is traditionally identified as 'Robert Blake'. When this copy was made in 1862, the sitter was believed to be the famous Admiral Robert Blake (1599-1657), a native of Bridgwater, whose victory over the Spanish West Indies fleet in 1657 was the cause of great celebration. However, known likenesses of Admiral Blake invariably depict a more portly figure with jowly features - quite different from the gentleman in this portrait. That said, many of these portraits of Admiral Blake were painted long after his death. | |
| Current Accession Number | BWRAB:1994/10 | |
| Inscription | front c 'Ano . 1634 . Aetatis 38 .' | |
| Subject | portrait (Blake, Robert) | |
| Measurements | 75 x 62 cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Loaned by the Bridgwater Charter Trustees 1994. | |
| Provenance | Commissioned from the artist by Henry Westropp, by 1862; given by Henry Westropp to the Borough of Bridgwater, 1862. | |
| Notes | Feigned oval. Gilt label affixed to the front of the frame: 'ADMIRAL ROBERT BLAKE / The original portrait by Adrian Hanneman, / (a pupil of Vandyck's), is at Narford Hall, Norfolk. / The seat of the Fountaine Family. / Copied by permission / by William Baker for Henry Westropp, Esqre / who presented it / to the Borough of Bridgwater. -1862.' A conservator's technical report dated 1970 states 'signed and dated William Baker 1862', but this may refer to the plaque, as no signature was found on the canvas. For a likeness of Admiral Robert Blake, see for instance Thomas Preston's mezzotint (1740, after an unknown artist, NPG D1072). |
|
| Rights Owner | Blake Museum, Bridgwater | |
| Author | Dr Susan Steer | |