How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
Aubrey de Vere succeeded to his title as 20th and last Earl of Oxford when he was only five years old (his father was killed in the Dutch army in the Low Countries), but he continued to live his childhood in Friesland. He married the 10-year old Anne Bayning in 1647 in London. This match alleviated his financial difficulties, but by 1654 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London accused of conspiring against the protectorate. His wife died in the Tower in 1659. De Vere worked for the Royalist cause under the codename 'Mr Waller' and was one of six Lords sent to invite Charles II back to England, for which he was rewarded handsomely. He was made Knight of the Garter in 1660, Lord Lieutenant of Essex, and Colonel of the King’s regiment of horse, called the Oxford Blues.
Whilst he was living with the actress Hester Davenport, who bore him a son, Samuel Pepys wrote: 'so rude a dirty family I never saw in my life'. De Vere later married Diana Kirke, with whom he had a daughter who later became the Duchess of St Albans.
Title
Aubrey de Vere (1626/1627–1703), 20th Earl of Oxford, KG
Date
1670s
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 76 x W 63.5 cm
Accession number
352345
Acquisition method
on loan from the Trustees of Antony
Work type
Painting
