Portrait of John Milton, aged 10
Date
1760
Sitter
John Milton (1608 - 1674, British) , Poet
Creator
Giovanni Battista Cipriani (1727 - 1785, Italian) , Engraver
After
Cornelius Johnson (1593 - 1661, Dutch) , Painter
Object type
Image reference
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 180mm
width (print): 145mm
width (print): 145mm
Description
Half-length portrait of John Milton at the age of 10, within an oval frame of leaves and rosebuds. He is shown in a stiff lace collar and a striped shirt, his appearance based on an oil painting now in Milton’s Cottage in Buckinghamshire.
Inscribed below: ‘JOHN MILTON’ ‘DRAWN AND ETCHED MDCCLX BY I.B.CIPRIANI A TUSCAN FROM / A PICTURE PAINTED BY CORNELIUS JOHNSON MDCXVIII NOW IN THE / POSSESSION OF THOMAS HOLLIS OF LINCOLN’S INNE F.R. AND A.S.S’
‘WHEN I WAS YET A CHILD NO CHILDISH PLAY / TO ME WAS PLEASING ALL MY MIND WAS SET / SERIOUS TO LEARN AND KWOW AND THENCE TO DO / WHAT MIGHT BE PUBLIC GOOD MY SELF I THOUGHT / BORN TO THAT END BORN TO PROMOTE ALL TRUTH / ALL RIGHTEOUS THINGS / PARAD. REG.’
John Milton (1608-1674), English poet, was not a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Inscribed below: ‘JOHN MILTON’ ‘DRAWN AND ETCHED MDCCLX BY I.B.CIPRIANI A TUSCAN FROM / A PICTURE PAINTED BY CORNELIUS JOHNSON MDCXVIII NOW IN THE / POSSESSION OF THOMAS HOLLIS OF LINCOLN’S INNE F.R. AND A.S.S’
‘WHEN I WAS YET A CHILD NO CHILDISH PLAY / TO ME WAS PLEASING ALL MY MIND WAS SET / SERIOUS TO LEARN AND KWOW AND THENCE TO DO / WHAT MIGHT BE PUBLIC GOOD MY SELF I THOUGHT / BORN TO THAT END BORN TO PROMOTE ALL TRUTH / ALL RIGHTEOUS THINGS / PARAD. REG.’
John Milton (1608-1674), English poet, was not a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Object history
Plate to 'Memoirs of T Hollis', 1780.