Portraits Archive

portraits

Nicias of Athens: the peace-loving general

Nicias of Athens sought compromise when those around him were begging for blood – carving his own tomb in the process.

Erica Benner October 27, 2020

Oswald Spengler (Eingeschränkte Rechte für bestimmte redaktionelle Kunden in Deutschland. Limited rights for specific editorial clients in Germany.) *29.05.1880-08.05.1936+Wissenschaftler, Philosoph, Geschichtsphilosoph, DPortrait- 1930

portraits

Oswald Spengler – an intellectual life

Spengler's philosophy represented a startling synthesis of ideas - they have a pressing relevance today.

Harry Cluff October 2, 2020

Title Page from Thomas Gage's The English-American his travail by sea and land

portraits

Thomas Gage – a man of unintended consequences

His intense faith led Gage to switch his religious allegiance during the tumultuous 17th century - he went on to have an enormous impact on Britain's colonial future.

Paul Lay September 28, 2020

portraits

The squandered promise of Willie Wilde

Willie Wilde - Oscar Wilde's older brother - had been destined for a distinguished public life, but the siren song of dissolute journalism proved too tempting.

Matthew Sturgis September 22, 2020

Puritan iconoclasts on the road to Norwich burning a church crucifix in front of the church. A miserable phrygian capped preacher is showing a passage from the bible to a man in a posture of prayer while another man brings more wood for the fire. East Anglia was a centre of iconoclasm in the 17th century

portraits

William ‘Basher’ Dowsing — activist iconoclast

Pious puritan Dowsing was committed to destroying all aspects of 'popery' in English churches. His radicalism is a warning from history.

Johan Hakelius September 16, 2020

1934 (relief), Tate Modern, London - Wikipedia Creative Commons

portraits

Helen Sutherland – brave cultivator of the beautiful

An isolated, austere, and fastidious heiress - Helen Sutherland dedicated herself to art.

Laura Freeman September 9, 2020

The Fall of Robespierre in the Convention on 27 July 1794

portraits

Jean Denis, Comte Lanjuinais – fearless opponent of The Terror

In the tumult of revolutionary France, Comte Lanjuinais risked his life by defying the Jacobins.

Jenny McCartney September 2, 2020

portraits

Amanda McKittrick Ros – romance unbounded

Admired in her day but now largely forgotten, Amanda McKittrick Ros, 'an Elizabethan born out of her time', according to Aldous Huxley, deserves revisiting.

Andrew Wilton July 17, 2020

portraits

Joseph Leclerc du Tremblay – the original éminence grise

Known under his religious name as Father Joseph, François du Tremblay was the mentor, ally and trusted agent of Cardinal de Richelieu, at a time when he dominated European politics..

Gerald Warner July 9, 2020