John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterford

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterbury|White, Cochrane, and Co.|James Basire, the elder

1811 · Etching and engraving; second state of two · Drawings and Prints

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterford — John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterbury|White, Cochrane, and Co.|James Basire, the elder

Valiant service as a general during the reign of King Henry VI earned John Talbot the nicknames “Terror of the French” and the “English Achilles.” This print is based on a painting at Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire, a work that Horace Walpole, the eighteenth-century aesthete and collector, declared to be one of the oldest in England. As a second son, the sitter was born plain John Talbot. He gradually gained titles -- referenced here through the heraldry on his mantle -- through two marriages, and by inheriting them from a cousin, and infant niece.

Artist: John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterbury|White, Cochrane, and Co.|James Basire, the elder
Date: 1811
Medium: Etching and engraving; second state of two
Department: Drawings and Prints
Credit line: Gift of Dr. Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, in loving memory of her husband, Professor Maan Z. Madina, 2016