Portraits Archive

Plautilla Nelli’s painting of Saint Catherine with the Lily.

portraits

Catherine of Siena, saint and stateswoman

Best known as a saint and mystic, Catherine of Siena was also an influential political thinker who sought to reshape civic life in the Italian city states.

Eloise Davies October 13, 2026

A photograph of Cordell Hull, US Secretary of State, Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet Foreign Commissar, and Anthony Eden, British Foreign Secretary, at the Third Moscow Conference in 1943.

portraits

Valentine Lawford, the hidden hand behind Britain’s wartime diplomacy

The socialite and civil servant was a devoted assistant to three very different foreign secretaries during the Second World War and its aftermath.

Peter Ricketts October 1, 2026

Mezzotint of Robert Molesworth. Credit: Eagen Archive

portraits

Robert Molesworth, denouncer of Danish tyranny

The Irish-born Whig's time as envoy formed his view of Denmark as a lost cause, but a cautionary tale for the English: of how a country descends into absolutism.

Felice Basbøll September 25, 2026

'Save Me From My Friends!' (1878) A satirical cartoon by Sir John Tenniel shows Amir Sher Ali of Afghanistan caught between the Russian bear and the British lion as each eyes the other with suspicion.

portraits

Francis Younghusband and the delusions of the Great Game

The British spy and his Russian rival, Bronislav Grombchevsky, embodied the bold endeavour and grand geopolitical illusions that underpinned the 19th-century struggle for control o..

Jack Dickens August 11, 2026

John Richard Hersey (1914-1993), American writer and journalist, best known for his book about the destruction of 'Hiroshima'.

portraits

John Hersey and the horrors of Hiroshima

The American journalist's account of the Hiroshima bombing and its aftermath, told through the eyes of Japanese survivors, forced the world to reckon with the terrifying power of n..

Iain MacGregor August 5, 2026

portraits

Trygve Lie: the Norwegian who built the United Nations

The UN's first secretary-general has slipped through the cracks of history, overshadowed by his glamorous Swedish successor, Dag Hammarskjöld. Yet the organisation's peacekeeping f..

Gordon F. Sander July 21, 2026

portraits

Alistair Cooke and the art of reading America

Alistair Cooke’s radio broadcasts remain a study in how to interpret the dramas and complexity of modern America.

John Raine July 7, 2026

Queen Marie of Romania. Credit: Classic Image

portraits

Marie of Romania: a female corrective to the strongman

While her legacy was buried by Romanian communists, Queen Marie's strength, fulsome ego and ascent to global celebrity provides a blueprint for leaders seeking to dominate a noisy ..

Tessa Dunlop June 9, 2026

portraits

Shajar al-Durr: the slave who became a sultan

Kidnapped and enslaved as a child, Shajar al-Durr rose to become the first Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, defeated a crusade and ransomed the King of France.

Katherine Pangonis May 26, 2026