The eldest son of Isaac Oliver, Peter trained in his father's studio but developed his own softer style. As a miniature painter, Peter was in demand both inside and outside royal circles of his day.

A selection of portraits from 1485 to 1603, many of which are on display at the Gallery or at Montacute House, our regional partner in Somerset. Portraits below are listed in chronological order.

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The first Protestant missionary to China. He translated the Bible into Chinese in 1823, and also published a Dictionary of the Chinese Language, the standard reference work for many years. He met with ...

Emmanuel Levy was born in Manchester and studied art at Manchester School of Art, St Martin's School of Art, London, and in Paris. During the 1930s his influences included Cubism, Expressionism and ...

Italian-born Belzoni moved to England in 1803 where he found work for a time as a strongman, actor and conjuror at fairs and theatres around the country. He travelled to Egypt having persuaded Mehmet ...

Gerrit van Honthorst was a Dutch painter from Utrecht. He travelled to Italy in 1616, where he copied the naturalism and eccentricities of Caravaggio. Honthorst spent four years painting in Rome after ...

As a child, Dr Crotch, the musician and composer, was known as 'the musical phenomenon of Norwich'. He began his professional career as organist of Christ Church, Oxford, at the age of fifteen, and ...

Objects and other elements within the portrait including art, books, clocks, flowers, maps, mirrors, pets and textiles ...

Born in Virginia, at the time a colony of Britain, Washington was the son of a planter. Despite a formal education lasting only a few years, he taught himself planting and land surveying by reading ...

Alexander worked as both architect and engineer. As Surveyor to the London Dock Company, 1796-1831, he was responsible for the early development of the London Docks, and also designed lighthouses and ...

This portrait was painted in Paris during a period of crisis in Joyce’s life, when his daughter Lucia was experiencing debilitating mental illness. He was struggling with his last novel, Finnegans ...