Probably Sharington I Talbot of Salwarpe (1577-1642), aged 37, holding a book
attributed to Robert Peake the elder (c.1551 – 1619)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1614 (inscribed)
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
888 x 698 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Lacock, Wiltshire
NT 996315
Caption
There is a Greek inscription on this portrait, which is barely legible. The beginning of it can be translated as ‘not a man but …’. The quotation perhaps relates to the book which the sitter is holding. From the inscription we also know that the sitter was 37 years old in 1614. Probably born in 1577, and christened Sharington in order to preserve the family name, Sharington Talbot was the son of Olive Sharington († 1646) and her first husband, John Talbot († 1581), whom she married in 1574. He lived at Salwarp, Worcestershire, and married first Elizabeth Leighton, who bore him a son and heir, Sharington II Talbot of Salwarp and Lacock. His second wife, Mary Washbourne, bore him children, who were to become the Earls of Shrewsbury. The treatment of the fingers and collar in particular are typical of Robert Peake.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Probably Sharington I Talbot of Salwarpe (1577-1642), aged 37, holding a book. A half-length portrait facing, wearing black with white goffered collar, and lace cuffs; left hand to chest, book in right hand held on hip; wearing a ring engraved with an eagle’s (?) head. Attributed to Robert Peake. Inscribed Aet 37, 1614, with a later (?) Greek inscription. Probably born in 1577, and christened Sharington in order to preserve the family name, Sharington Talbot was the son of Olive Sharington (d. 1646) and her first husband, John Talbot (d.1581), whom she married in 1574.
Provenance
Probably at Lacock since the mid seventeenth century, and thence by descent; given by Matilda Theresa Talbot (formerly Gilchrist-Clark) (1871 – 1958), who gave the Abbey, the village of Lacock and the rest of the estate to the National Trust in 1944, along with 96 of the family portraits and other pictures, in 1948
Credit line
Lacock Abbey, The Talbot Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
top left: Ae 37; and top right: 1614; and a later Greek inscription, the latter part of which is illegible ['not a man but ... ']
Makers and roles
attributed to Robert Peake the elder (c.1551 – 1619), artist British (English) School, artist