Nathaniel Cholmley (1684–1755)

Image credit: Ferens Art Gallery

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Notes

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The painter of this portrait has recently been identified as a leading Italian artist of the 17th century, Benedetto Gennari. Italian portraitists were in demand in England for their skills, honed in a country where painting was prized.

The portrait shows Nathaniel Cholmley as a wealthy, learned man, dressed in what was then a fashionable outfit, a richly patterned tea-gown, with his hair dressed but not powdered. The sitter obviously requested an informal portrait from the artist, who depicted Cholmley gesturing to a pile of letters on the table to his side, as if engaging the viewer in a conversation about their content or writer. The artist has cleverly included the sitter’s name in the portrait by showing Chomley holding a letter addressed to himself.

Ferens Art Gallery

Kingston upon Hull

Title

Nathaniel Cholmley (1684–1755)

Date

1687

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 122.5 x W 100.7 cm

Accession number

KINCM:2005.4959

Acquisition method

purchased at Strickland (?) sale, Spencer’s of Retford, 1950

Work type

Painting

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Ferens Art Gallery

Queen Victoria Square, Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire HU1 3RA England

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