Sir Nicholas Bacon (1509-1579)
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1562 (after)
Materials
Oil on oak panel
Measurements
350 x 265 mm
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1129161
Caption
Sir Nicholas Bacon was a supreme statesman, attaining high legal office. Although, as a Protestant, he lost any such positions under Mary, Elizabeth I made him Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in 1558, and left to him and Cecil the management of church affairs. Of his five sons, two achieved fame in their own right: Sir Francis, Lord Chancellor of England, was a noted philosopher and author; and Sir Nicholas, was made the first Baronet in England. He was buried in St Paul’s Cathedral. This particular portrait is a copy, the original of which is at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (of which Sir Nicholas was a benefactor), showing him in 1562, at the age of fifty-five.
Summary
Oil painting on cradled oak panel, Sir Nicholas Bacon (1509-1579), British (English) School, after an original of 1562. Inscribed (erroneously) top left, in antiquarian hand: Thomas Cavendishe/de Cavendishe/A.D. MCCCCCXV. Portrait as a middle-aged man, head and shoulders, turned slightly to the right, gazing at spectator, wearing a black dress trimmed with fur, small white collar and black cap. The sitter was an English statesman who attained high legal office which, as a Protestant, he lost under Mary, but in 1558, on her accession Elizabeth made him lord keeper of the Great Seal, and left to him and Cecil the management of church affairs. A staunch anti-Catholic, he was an implacable enemy of Mary Queen of Scots; he is buried in St Paul's Cathedral. The original of the present picture is the portrait at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (of which Sir Nicholas was a benefactor), showing him in 1562 at the age of fifty-five.
Provenance
In Inventory of the contents of Hardwick Hall made in 1601 and attached to the will of Elizabeth Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury (c.1520-1608) as 'Lord Bacaon' and thence by descent 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
Recto: top left in an antiquarian hand Thomas Cavendishe/de Cavendishe/A.D. MCCCCCXV Recto: Label in black on gilded canvas: 168 THOMAS CAVENDISH
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist