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| Title | Portrait of a Man, formerly known as the Earl of Portsmouth | |
| Collection | Beecroft Art Gallery, Westcliff-on-Sea | |
| Artist | Attributed to circle of Helst, Bartholomeus van der (Dutch painter, 1613-1670) Previously attributed to Helst, G. van (Netherlandish artist, active 17th-18th centuries) |
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| Date Earliest | probably about 1650 | |
| Date Latest | probably about 1660 | |
| Description | The sitter in this portrait of a young man in the costume of the 1650s was once thought to be the Earl of Portsmouth. However, the first Earl of Portsmouth was not created until 1743, thus making the identity of the sitter a mystery. It was painted by a member of the circle of Bartholomeus van der Helst, one of the leading portraitists in the Netherlands, who was renowned for his supremely confident and fluid execution. | |
| Current Accession Number | SOUAG:B31 | |
| Subject | portrait; figure | |
| Measurements | 72.5 x 60 cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Bequeathed by Walter G. Beecroft 1961. | |
| Provenance | Possibly acquired through the Friends of the Beecroft Art Gallery. | |
| Notes | John Wallop (1690-1762) was created the first Earl of Portsmouth in 1743, so this is almost certainly not his portrait.. The costume indicates a date in the 1650s and moreover, Bartholomeus van der Helst died in 1670, twenty years before the earl's birth. Although a Duchess of Portsmouth (Louise de Kerouaille, the mistress of Charles II) was created in 1673, she never married and, again, this postdates van der Helst's death. (Her son by Charles was created the Duke of Richmond, not Portsmouth.) A survey of portraits of the Earls and Dukes of Portland in the Heinz Archive and Library (National Portrait Gallery, London) has likewise turned up no likely identifications for the sitter. Richard Weston, first Earl of Portland died in 1635 (having been painted by van Dyck), and the second Earl of Portland was a child when the Beecroft's portrait was painted; moreover, the first Duke of Portland was not created until the end of the seventeenth century. The identity of the sitter in the Beecroft portrait must remain a mystery unless further research is carried out. | |
| Rights Owner | Copyright Southend Borough Council | |
| Author | Dr Rachel Sloan | |