John Closterman, 1660–1711, German, active in Britain (from 1680)
Title:
John Poulett, first Earl Poulett
Date:
ca. 1690
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
76 1/2 x 52 inches (194.3 x 132.1 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1973.1.6
Gallery Label:
Although the date of Lord Poulett's birth is not known, his parents married in July 1667, and in 1679 John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett, was described as a "weak child." Evidently he suffered from scrofula, or "the King's Evil," a form of tuberculosis that affects the lymph nodes in the neck, but he survived infancy and lived a long, quiet life at his country seat, Hinton St. George in Somerset. Judging from his appearance in this hunting portrait, John must have been around twelve to fourteen years of age, which means the picture cannot have been painted before 1680. This was the year in which he inherited his father's barony, which may have been the occasion that the portrait was commissioned to mark. Gallery label for Paul Mellon's Legacy: A Passion for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)
