Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Sir Thomas Hanmer, 2nd baronet, of BettisfieldPark, Flintshire, is wearing a fashionable lace collar and has a curling lock of hair over one shoulder. Although only nineteen in this portrait, he was already making his way at the Court of Charles I. During the Civil War he fought for the Royalists and was later known as a gardener famous for introducing the Agate Hanmer tulip to Britain. Johnson, although British-born of Flemish Parents, trained abroad before setting up as a portraitist in London. He retired to Holland at the outbreak of the Civil War. The restrained silvery tonality of the portrait complements the refined, sensitive character of the sitter.