Portrait of Captain Thomas Lee
- Artist: Marcus Gheeraerts II
- Date: 1594
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 2305 x 1508 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Portrait of Captain Thomas Lee” by Marcus Gheeraerts II. Painted in 1594 in oil on canvas, it captures a senior officer in Elizabeth I’s army who was active in the colonisation of Ireland. The sitter’s embroidered shirt and ornate sword and helmet signal wealth and rank, yet his bare legs reference the Irish kerns – the foot soldiers who wore no boots – hinting at the rough conditions English officers faced in the Irish campaign. This detail is thought to be a visual jab at the poor pay that Lee famously complained about.
Gheeraerts layers political subtext into the composition. The oak behind the sitter may symbolize loyalty to Sir Henry Lee, his relative and a key patron, while the landscape’s bogs and water allude to the Irish terrain Lee was fighting over. The portrait was probably commissioned to prove Lee’s loyalty after he was briefly suspected of treachery. In short, the painting is a striking mix of portraiture and propaganda, showing a man who, despite outward opulence, remains tied to the crown and the political realities of his time.
See it in person
Portrait of Captain Thomas Lee 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.
