Francis Clifford, 4th Earl of Cumberland (1559 – 1641)
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1620
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1080 x 876 mm (42 1/2 x 34 1/2 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1129146
Caption
The inscription on the back of the canvas does not specify which Earl of Cumberland is depicted here. In view of the fact that the portrait shows an aging sitter painted in the 1620s, he can only be Francis Clifford, 4th Earl of Cumberland (1559-1641). He was the son of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland (1517-1570), and succeeded to the title from his elder brother George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland (1558-1606). There was no 6th Earl of Cumberland, the title having expired with the death of the 5th Earl, Henry Clifford (1592-1643) in 1643. An MP for Westmorland (1584-87) and Co. York (1604-05), Francis Clifford died in the same chamber in which he was born, at Skipton Castle.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Francis Clifford, 4th Earl of Cumberland (1559 – 1641), British (English) School, circa 1620. Inscribed twice, mid left and bottom left: Henry Clifford Earl of Cumberland. A three-quarter-length portrait, turned to right, receding hair reddish moustache and spadebeard, wearing a black doublet and white falling ruff, his left hand on his hip, his gloves held in his right hand.
Provenance
By inheritance until, following the death of Edward William Spencer Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire (1895 - 1950), Hardwick Hall and its contents were accepted by HM Treasury in part payment of death duties and transferred to the National Trust, in 1959
Credit line
Hardwick Hall, The Devonshire Collection (acquired through the National Land Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1959)
Marks and inscriptions
twice, mid-left and bottom left - Henry Clifford Earl of Cumberland (and, on the back of the unlined canvas The Earle of Cumberland)
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist previously catalogued as attributed to Daniel Mytens the elder (Delft c.1590 – The Hague 1648), artist