William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (1520-1598)
after Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (Bruges 1561/2 - London 1636)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1600 - 1699
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1245 x 991 mm (49 x 39 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1129109
Caption
William Cecil was Lord High Treasurer and Chief Minister to Queen Elizabeth. He is here shown wearing the Collar of the Garter and holding the Treasurer’s wand of office. He married, as his first wife, Mildred, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, by whom he had one son, Sir Robert Cecil (later created Earl of Salisbury), who succeeded his father as Secretary of State for many years to Queen Elizabeth and King James I. This is a good 17th century copy of the original of c.1585, known from versions in the National Portrait Gallery, at Hatfield and at Burghley.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (1520-1598) after Marcus Geeraerts the younger (Bruges 1561/2 - London 1635/6), inscribed top left: Sir William Cecill knight, Baron of / Burghley Lord high Treasorer of / England, knight of ye moft noble / order of the Garter master of / her Maties court of Wardes & Lyveries. A three-quarter length portrait, standing, turned slightly to the right, gazing at spectator dressed in Garter robes, with his Treasurer's wand of office in his right hand, his left hand holding the hilt of his sword. This is a good seventeenth-century copy of the original of around 1585, known from versions in the National Portrait Gallery, at Hatfield and at Burghley; many other versions exist .
Provenance
Inventory of the contents of Hardwick Hall made in 1601 and attached to the will of Elizabeth Hardwick,Countess of Shrewsbury (c.1520-1608);
Credit line
Hardwick Hall, The Devonshire Collection (acquired through the National Land Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1959)
Marks and inscriptions
upper left Sir William Cecil knight, Baron/Burleigh, Lord High Treasurer of/England
Makers and roles
after Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (Bruges 1561/2 - London 1636), artist