English School 16th Century

Alfred Morrison (1821-1897), Fonthill House;
Anon. sale, Sotheby's, 3rd April 1996, lot 17A, where acquired by the present owner

This important portrait shows Henry VIII's celebrated chancellor at the end of his life and was probably painted on the occasion of his elevation to the Earldom of Essex. The most celebrated image of Cromwell was by Holbein and was painted c.1533 to mark his appointment as Master of the Jewel House. The original by Holbein is lost, but there remain at least three good contemporary copies. The present portrait, though influenced by Holbein, is an entirely independent image. The sitter no longer wears the prominent ring on his finger which appears in the Holbein, and his face has noticeably aged with the eyes less alert, the complexion paler and the jowl more pronounced. The style of the sitter's hair has also changed and now reveals his ear. Sir Roy Strong points out that the portrait comes from a workshop operative in the 1530's and once associated with Hornebolte.

Thomas Cromwell is famous in English history for ruthlessly implementing Henry VIII's revolutionary changes to the Church and Government. He came from a humble background however and was reputed to be the son of a blacksmith in Putney. It is believed that after a quarrel with his father, he left England and joined the French military service and fought in the battle of Garigliano in 1503. He then left the army and travelled to Italy and appears to have stayed in Antwerp prior to being introduced to Pope Julius II, with one Geoffrey Chambers. He entered Parliament in 1523 and in 1525 was one of the commissioners appointed through Wolsey's influence to inquire into the state of the smaller monasteries. He managed all Wolsey's legal affairs, and arranged for the founding of Cardinal's College and Ipswich College, Oxford. He pleaded for Wolsey in 1529 but did not manage to save him from Henry VIII's sentence. He encouraged the King to become head of the English Church and therefore facilitated his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. It was during this period, in the year of 1535, that he carried out his devastating visitation on the churches, monasteries and clergy. The King encouraged his ambition and he became Privy Councillor in 1531, Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1533 and Earl of Essex in 1540. As an advisor to the King he gained many other lucrative posts, however his downfall came when he was accused of treason by the Duke of Norfolk and was subsequently executed in 1540.