Sir John Stanhope

Painted sometime before 1638 by an unknown British artist, Sir John Stanhope of Elvaston Castle was member of parliament early in the King’s reign and active in politics right through the 1630s until his death in 1638. He incurred the wrath of the Sherrif of Derbyshire John Gell by refusing to pay Ship Money. Gell revenged himself in the Civil War by defacing Stanhope’s monument in Elvaston Church.

Sir John is wearing a black doublet slashed both in the body and sleeves so the linen of his shirt is easily seen. His falling band is neatly darted and adorned with some sober lace and subtle bandstrings. Notice the wedding ring worn on a string around his neck. The painting is kept at the National Trust property of the Old Manor Norbury in Derbyshire.

Thomas Whitgreave

Painted in 1640 by an unknown British artist, Whitgreave fought on the side of the King during the war, ending up being wounded and captured at Naseby. He is better known for his part in the escape of Charles II from the Battle of Worcester, providing shelter for the young king at his home, Moseley Old Hall for two nights during September 1650. Thomas is wearing an odd half doublet, half coat affair with a slit sleeve on his left arm and a heavy, gathered sleeve with a hanging shoulder piece on his right, made of shot silk with intricately woven thread buttons. He also has a laced falling band and some quite complicated tassels on his bandstrings. The picture hangs at the National Trust owned Mosely Old Hall where I guess it has lived since 1640.

Elizabeth Holte

Painted in 1635, I guess as a companion piece to the portrait of her husband Edward, and also by Cornelis Janssens van  Ceulen. Elizabeth is pictured in a sober black satin bodice with just a tiny strip of her white smock peeping out above the neckline and a black lace scarf or sash draped across her right shoulder. Her hair is dressed but uncovered and she is staring straight out of the picture with the same gaze as her husband. Picture is in the collection of the Birmingham Museums Trust

Edward Holte

Painted by Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen in 1635, Edward was Groom of the Bedchamber to the King, wounded at Edgehill and died of fever during the Siege of Oxford in 1643. He is pictured in some kind of drapy velvet thing, t(he kind of clothing that artists like for composition, but which do nothing for the wearer) over his gatherd shirt of fine, almost see-through linen tied at the neck by a black ribbon. The picture is in the collection of the Birmingham Museums Trust.