Iohn Worley [John Worley] Pentioner in her Majties Royll Hospital for Seamen att Greenwich Born in Wales Ao 16-24 done from ye Life and Sold by In Faber near ye Savoy in ye Strand 1709
This print was previously attributed to Thornhill but does not relate closely to his portrait of Worley (BHC3102 and the related drawing PAH2243) except by general similarity of pose, though in reverse, without the hat and no visible buttons on the coat. This image is even more significant in showing the original dress of Greenwich Pensioners more clearly and if the original drawing was not done ' from ye life' by Faber himself, as the inscription states, then the artist is unknown.
Worley (1624 -1721) was one of the first 46 Pensioners to enter the Hospital in 1705 after a lifetime at sea, apparently in the coal trade before he was in the Navy. Despite his great age and patriarchal appearance - which was why Thornhill chose him as model for the figure of Winter in the main ceiling of the Painted Hall - he was recorded as frequently in trouble for his swearing, drunken behaviour. This print was first published in 1708 when Thornhill was just beginning the ceiling of the Hall but suggests that Worley's role in it may already have been known, or that his patriarchal looks had already made him one of the Hospital's early 'characters'.
Worley (1624 -1721) was one of the first 46 Pensioners to enter the Hospital in 1705 after a lifetime at sea, apparently in the coal trade before he was in the Navy. Despite his great age and patriarchal appearance - which was why Thornhill chose him as model for the figure of Winter in the main ceiling of the Painted Hall - he was recorded as frequently in trouble for his swearing, drunken behaviour. This print was first published in 1708 when Thornhill was just beginning the ceiling of the Hall but suggests that Worley's role in it may already have been known, or that his patriarchal looks had already made him one of the Hospital's early 'characters'.
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Object Details
ID: | PAD2720 |
---|---|
Collection: | Fine art |
Type: | |
Display location: | Not on display |
Creator: | Thornhill, James; the Elder, Johan Faber, |
Date made: | 1709; 1720 |
People: | Worley, John |
Credit: | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London |
Measurements: | Mount: 194 mm x 147 mm |
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