Newly-discovered painting of John Dryden, the first Poet Laureate
The oil is believed to have been painted when Dryden was appointed in 1668, to celebrate the creation of the post.
Dryden, aged then in his mid-30s and at the peak of his career, appears with a slight smile, wearing a wig and surrounded by a decorative oval surround and wreath.
Short quotations on the surround by six Roman poets, Virgil, Horace, Martial, Juvenal, Ovid and Statius, refer to the tradition of wreathing poets with laurels, ivy, oak or olive, and the main inscription "par omnibus unus", translates as "one (poet) a match for (them) all".
The Dryden portrait, painted by Charles II's court artist Michael John Wright – whose official title was "Picture Drawer in Ordinary" – was bought by the NPG for £225,000, with help from The Art Fund charity, which donated £45,000...
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Dryden, aged then in his mid-30s and at the peak of his career, appears with a slight smile, wearing a wig and surrounded by a decorative oval surround and wreath.
Short quotations on the surround by six Roman poets, Virgil, Horace, Martial, Juvenal, Ovid and Statius, refer to the tradition of wreathing poets with laurels, ivy, oak or olive, and the main inscription "par omnibus unus", translates as "one (poet) a match for (them) all".
The Dryden portrait, painted by Charles II's court artist Michael John Wright – whose official title was "Picture Drawer in Ordinary" – was bought by the NPG for £225,000, with help from The Art Fund charity, which donated £45,000...