Portrait of Thomas Bulwer (1654): Artwork and History

Portrait of Thomas Bulwer (1654) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Gerard van Soest (Dutch, c. 1605–1681).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Like many Dutch artists working in late 17th-century England, Gerard Soest catered to members of the upper social classes and aristocracy. The subject of this portrait, Norfolk gentleman Thomas Bulwer, likely hired Soest because of the painter’s ability to convey a sitter’s authority with directness and simplicity. Here, Soest depicted Bulwer clutching a scroll to signal his intellectual interests and influence. Likewise, the subject’s hand poised on the chair’s armrest suggests that he is about to rise, an indication of his active nature. The inscription and date, which were uncovered during cleaning, were added in the 18th century.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Thomas Bulwer
• Date: 1654
• Artist attribution: Gerard van Soest (Dutch, c. 1605–1681)
• Place of origin: Holland
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 101.7 × 86.7 cm (40 1/16 × 34 1/8 in.); Framed: 113.4 × 97.2 × 6.4 cm (44 5/8 × 38 1/4 × 2 1/2 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
• Reference number: 1962.963

Collection credit

Alexander A. McKay Fund

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.