Endymion Porter
- Artist: William Dobson
- Date: c.1642–5
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 1499 x 1270 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Endymion Porter” by William Dobson. Painted around 1642–5 in oil on canvas, the portrait captures the young courtier as a huntsman, clutching a rifle and a dead hare—a subtle nod to the ongoing Civil War. On the left, a stone relief shows the arts—Painting, Sculpture, Poetry—while a marble bust of Apollo looms, signalling Porter’s patronage of the arts. Dobson borrowed the pose from Titian’s portrait of Emperor Vespasian, a painting that once hung in Charles I’s collection. In the same year the king had fled to Oxford, and Dobson painted this work there, before Porter was later forced into exile in France. The artist, active from 1611 to 1646, is celebrated for his delicate handling of light and texture, making this portrait one of his finest. The scene, with its hunting gear and classical references, offers a snapshot of a courtier whose loyalty to Charles I was as much artistic as political.
See it in person
Endymion Porter is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
