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Portrait of an Old and a Younger Man (John Taylor and John Denham)

Maker

(Artists)
1610-1646

Title

Portrait of an Old and a Younger Man (John Taylor and John Denham)

Date of Production

1643

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

Height: 110.2 cm (canvas)
Width: 118.6 cm (canvas)

Accession Number

P.1947.LF.97

Mode of Acquisition

Arthur Hamilton Lee, bequest, 1947

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

On display

Keywords











Label Text

This rare double portrait was long thought to represent a father and son. However, the sitters have recently been identified as John Taylor (left) and John Denham (right), poets at the English court. The stone mask beneath Denham’s hand alludes to their association with the arts.

William Dobson, one of the first English portraitists, succeeded the Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck as painter to King Charles I in 1641. Dobson’s promising career was cut short by the disruption of the English Civil War (which started in 1642) and his early death.

Provenance

Lee Bequest 1947

Exhibition History

William Dobson, Tate Britain, London, 29/10/2018-12/05/2019

The Gilbert, Courtauld and Wernher Collections, London & England, 07/01/1998-03/02/1998

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