John Hoskins

British private collection since at least the early 20^th century,

by descent to the present owner

This previously unrecorded portrait is an exciting addition to the oeuvre of John Hoskins, an English artist who is considered to have been ‘one of the greatest of the 17^th century’.¹ The work is dated 1648 and was therefore painted eight years after King Charles I had granted Hoskins a pension of £200 a year, on condition that he was not to work for anyone else without his permission.

While the work’s strong sense of realism shows the influence of Sir Anthony Van Dyck, who lived in London from 1632 until his death in 1641, its circular format and blue background harks back to the work of earlier miniature painters such as Nicholas Hillard and Isaac Oliver.

^1. L. Schidlof, La Miniature en Europe, Graz 1964, p. 376