Martha Temple, Lady Penyston
Cornelius Johnson
1619
Cornelius Johnson was born to a family that had immigrated to London in the sixteenth century but traced its roots back to Cologne in Germany. It is not known where Johnson trained as an artist, and it is possible that he traveled to mainland Europe to receive instruction. Like other artists active in London during the second decade of the seventeenth century, Johnson followed the fashion for depicting his sitters within a feigned oval, signing his name either in full (as in this picture) or by using his initials (as on the portrait of Sir Alexander Temple nearby) in the bottom right of the painting. Johnson would continue this practice throughout his long career, and later in life, after he left England for the Netherlands, he described himself variously as “of London” and “of Cologne.”
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0