Thomas Povey (1613/14-c.1705)
John Michael Wright (bap. London 1617 - London 1694)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1657
Materials
oil on canvas
Measurements
1041 x 826 mm (41 x 32 1/2 in)
Order this imageCollection
Dyrham, Gloucestershire
NT 454802
Caption
This is the second portrait at Dyrham Park of the statesman and art collector Thomas Povey, who was the uncle of William I Blathwayt (?1649–1717). He held a number of posts under Charles II, including Secretary of the Committee for Foreign Plantations, and Treasurer to James, Duke of York. His collection of paintings (and wine) was admired by the diarists Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn. Many of the paintings from his collection were purchased by William I Blathwayt in 1693, and some of them remain at Dyrham today. Here Thomas Povey is shown wearing a mourning ring attached to a black ribbon, tied around his right wrist. The tree blasted by lightning, which is included in the other portrait of Povey, is also shown in this portrait. However, the placard bearing the date of the painting, shown hanging on the tree in the other version, is omitted from this portrait.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas,Thomas Povey (1613/14-c.1705) by John Michael Wright (London 1617-London 1694), circa 1657. A three-quarter-length portrait of Povey, his body turned slightly to the right and his head turned slightly to the left. He wears black, with a small white collar and white frilled cuffs. He wears a black band, with a ring attached, on his right wrist. In the background is a stormy sky and a tree struck by lightning. It is one of two portraits of Thomas Povey by John Michael Wright at Dyrham Park.
Provenance
Presumably painted for Thomas Povey (1613/14 - c.1705); purchased by William Blathwayt (?1649 - 1717) from his uncle, Thomas Povey (1613/14 - c.1705) in 1693; thence by descent; Indigenous collection purchased by the Ministry of Works in 1956 and given to Dyrham Park in 1961
Credit line
Dyrham Park, The Blathwayt Collection (acquired by the Ministry of Works via the National Land Fund in 1956, and transferred to the National Trust)
Makers and roles
John Michael Wright (bap. London 1617 - London 1694), artist