Emblematic Portrait of Oliver Cromwell

Maker Francis Barlow (British, c. 1626 - 1704)

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Daten.d.

Mediumpen and black ink with red chalk on laid paper mounted on a book page [verso has been coated with red chalk for transfer. Tracing marks]

Dimensions22 1/2 × 17 in. (57.2 × 43.2 cm.)

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

Not on view

Label TextCreated the year that Oliver Cromwell died, this drawing became the basis for a print designed to celebrate the English general and statesman who had led the Parliamentary armies in their rebellion during the English Civil War and later ruled as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. Barlow uses a series of emblems, or symbolic objects, to create a portrait of Cromwell as a wise and just ruler. An assortment of small, highly detailed allegorical figures surrounds him. Fame, dressed as an angel, marks Cromwell’s victory with a trumpet call, while the dove of peace flies above his head. At lower left, a group of men with pickaxes work to undermine the state, led by a figure with the head of
a fox, an allusion to conspirator Guy Fawkes (2022).

Object number64.14

Terms