Sir Nathaniel Bacon (1585–1627)

• Was an English painter.
• Bacon has been called 'the most accomplished English amateur painter of the century'.
• He came from a distinguished family.
• His grandfather Sir Nicholas was Lord Keeper under Queen Elizabeth; the politician and philosopher Sir Francis Bacon was also a relation.
• In 1614 Sir Nathaniel married Jane Meautys of Brome in Suffolk, the wealthy widow of Sir William Cornwallis, and a Lady of the Bedchamber to James I's queen, Anne of Denmark.
• Jane was a close friend of the art patron Lucy Harington, Countess of Bedford.

• Fewer than a dozen extant works are attributable to Bacon.

• Bacon painted mainly for his own family, and many of his surviving works are self-portraits.

• The most significant of these, painted c. 1618-20 shows the artist in his study with various accessories relating to his accomplishments and interests.

• Bacon was created a Knight of the Bath early in 1626, on the coronation of Charles I.

• Next