Portrait of Sir Henry Wotton in a Black Doublet & White Ruff C.1610-20; Circle of Cornelius Johnson (1593-1661), Oil on Canvas Painting

A feature of this exquisitely rendered oil on panel portrait is its remarkable 17th century carved auricular Sunderland frame – a splendid, and rare, work of art in itself.

The subject is the poet and ambassador, and contemporary of Shakespeare, Sir Henry Wotton, who was the most widely cultivated Englishman of his time during what is known as the great age of Elizabethan literature, from the defeat of the Armada to (almost) the outbreak of the Civil Wars. A ripe classical scholar, an elegant Latinist, trained in Greek, he was an admirable linguist in modern languages as well. He was the friend of most of the learned men of that epoch, both at home and on the Continent; the first English collector of Italian pictures, he brought from Italy, the refined taste in art and architecture, the varied culture of antiquity and the Renaissance. Famous in his own day as a ' wit and fine gentleman ', he deserves to be remembered as a noble example of the 'Italianate' Englishmen - one who, with all his foreign culture, never lost the sincerity and old-fashioned piety of a 'plain Kentish man'.

Born on 30 March 1568, at Boughton or Bocton Hall, in Kent to Thomas Wotton (1489-1551) and Eleanor Finch. At the time of his birth Bocton Hall had been the seat of the Wotton family for about 150 years, his father Thomas being fourth in descent from Nicholas Wotton, Lord Mayor of London in the reign of Henry V. The Wotton’s had prospered and were distinguised by a peculiar honesty, old-fashioned piety, and simplicity of nature. Though high in the public service, they habitually declined, rather than sought, court honours and preferment.

In 1584 Wotton, then aged sixteen, went from Winchester to New College, Oxford but by 1589 he left for abroad travelling on the continent. Returning to England in 1594, he was taken into the service of the Queen's favourite, Robert, Earl of Essex. He again went to Italy where the Grand Duke of Tuscany employed him as a private envoy to James VI of Scotland, and later he was sent as his ambassador to many princes. He was the Provostship of Eton, which he held till his death in 1689.

Exquisitely detailed throughout the sitter is wearing a black doublet and white lace collar and cuffs. These elements are very carefully observed but the excellent treatment of the face is most notable - with the build-up and layering to mimic realistic nuances of skin tones, and the soft appearance by using the ‘sfumato’ technique. This is a very fine example.

This portrait passed by family descent to Anne Eliza Bray (1790-1883) who wrote over a dozen very popular historical novels, travel and history books. She married the artist Charles Alfred Stothard (son of Thomas Stothard) and later Rev. Edward Atkyns Bray, vicar of Tavistock. It is no doubt that she would have been enthralled to be the custodian of this portrait of Sir Henry Wotton, sharing his writing enthusiasm.

Cornelius Johnson (1593-1664) through merit and splendid achievement, can be placed within the first rank of England’s portrait painters of the generation before Van Dyke. Cornelius Johnson was a painter beautifully sensitive to individual character and his careful and faithful depictions of clothing afford a priceless resource to historians. He was sworn in as the King’s own painter in 1632.

Born into a Flemish/German immigrant family in 1593 in London, he is thought to have begun his independent practice in about 1619.

Even his earliest pictures display a level of continental sophistication not often seen in the works of English Jacobean artists. He painted elegant images of the King, the Queen, and the whole court, many leading lawyers and public servants, but also a regional clientele.

In 1632, the same year Van Dyck arrived in England, Johnson was appointed one of King Charles I’s painters but in 1643, just prior to the the Civil Wars, he left for Holland where he worked and remained until his death.

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