Portraits of Dr. William Harvey

Part 1

PORTRAITS

DR. WILLIAM HARVEY

PUBLISHED FOR THE HISTORICAL SECTION OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF MEDICINE BY HUMPHREY MILFORD

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY

1913

OXFORD

PLATES AND LETTERPRESS

PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS

BY HORACE HART

PREFACE

The Council of the Royal Society of Medicine determined in 1912 to form a section for the study of the History of Medicine. The section immediately became popular, and one of its first actions was to arrange for the issue of occasional fasciculi dealing with such subjects in medical history as did not lend themselves readily to discussion. Mr. William Roberts pointed out in 1903 that the iconography of medical men had not yet received adequate attention, and he published (The Athenaeum, No. 3960, Sept. 19, 1903, p. 388) an account of the portraits of Dr. William Harvey which was afterwards revised and reissued in Dr. Weir Mitchell’s privately printed Some Memoranda in regard to William Harvey, M.D. (New York, 1907). This account of the portraits of William Harvey was not illustrated, but it showed that many pictures existed. The Council of the Historical Section directed their Secretaries to obtain photographs of some of the portraits and write a short account of each, whilst they invited their President to superintend the reproductions in such a manner as to enable them to be issued at a moderate cost to those who wished to know how the great master of physiology appeared to his contemporaries. The present fasciculus is the result. It proves that the undoubted and contemporary portraits of Harvey are more numerous than was expected, either because ‘the honest little Doctor’ liked to have his picture painted, or, as is the more likely, because he could not resist the importunity of artists whom he must often have desired to help pecuniarily. Numerous portraits of gentlemen of the seventeenth century with peaked beards and white collars also exist, and some of them are labelled with Harvey’s name. A comparison with the genuine portraits shows that these spurious ones can be divided into two groups: those which may have been portraits of Harvey’s brothers, supposing that a family likeness existed, and those which are clearly not portraits of any member of the Harvey family even though they are labelled with William Harvey’s name.

The genuine portraits, as they are seen in this collection, arranged in the order of apparent age, show that Harvey had a long face, not unlike that of Charles I, with refined features, and that his expression, always thoughtful, became one of settled melancholy as he grew older. His hands especially seem to have attracted the attention of the better painters; wonderfully shapely with long, thin, and nervous fingers, they seem made for delicate dissection and experimental work. His dress was a reflex of his character--in earlier years rich but not gaudy; in later years--after the execution of the King his master--always in sad colours relieved by muslin or lawn of the finest quality for collar and wristbands, but never again with lace or embroidery. A man of deep feeling, prone to anger, of the smallest stature, on the whole lovable when he was not racked by gout or sciatica.

The section of the History of Medicine owes its best thanks to those gentlemen who have allowed photographs to be made of the portraits in their possession, as well as to Mr. William Fleming of the Royal College of Physicians of London, to Mr. Sidney H. Badcock of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, to Mr. Emery Walker, and to the Clarendon Press, with its courteous Controller, for much help willingly given.

July, 1913.

CONTENTS

PAGE

I. Portrait in University College, London 2

II. ” ” the Royal College of Physicians (aet. su. 50) 4

III. ” ” Merton College, Oxford 6

IV. ” ” the Royal College of Physicians 8

V. ” ” the possession of General Sir Francis Lloyd, K.C.B. 10

VI. ” at Caius College, Cambridge 12

VII. ” in the Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society 14

VIII. ” in the Bodleian Library 16

IX. ” in the possession of the Rev. J. Franck Bright, D.D. 19

X. ” in the Royal College of Physicians (Janssen’s) 22

XI. ” in the possession of Mr. D’Arcy Power (aet. su. 61) 25

XII. ” in the possession of the Royal Society 28

Part 2

XIII. Faithorne’s Bust 30

XIV. The King’s Weston Portrait 33

XV. Portrait in the National Portrait Gallery 36

XVI. Portrait in the Erich Galleries, New York 38

XVII. Portrait in the possession of J. P. Cobbold, Esq. 40

XVIII and XIX. Bust in Hempstead Church, Essex 42

XX. Harvey’s Coffin 44

A List of Engraved Portraits, Busts, and Statues 45

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON

Head and shoulders directed to the right, head turned and looking at the spectator; very long hair which falls over the shoulders and forehead, dark tinged with grey, thick moustache and beard; full face, fresh coloured; blue eyes; dark dress or cloak, the folds of which are apparently supported by his arms and wrist.

Canvas 25 in. by 21 in., inscribed in top left-hand corner, ‘Quis ignorat figura Socratem.’

Exhibited at South Kensington 1866, No. 756, and engraved for the Leisure Hour, November 6, 1880.

Bequeathed in 1854 to University College, Gower Street, by Mr. George Field. It was in the possession of Mr. John Linnell Bond, architect to Sir E. Harvey, to whom it descended through Dr. Harvey’s second brother. The portrait is attributed to M. C. Mierevelt (1567-1641).

Willis, in his Life of Harvey, says, ‘The fine picture in the Museum of University College, London, is certainly not a portrait of Harvey.’ A verdict which appears correct.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS

IN THE SECRETARY’S ROOM.

A bust in an oval, bearing the inscription, ‘William Harvey M.D. Cam. F.C.P. 1607; aetatis suae 50 Anº. Dom. 1628.’ Harvey is represented wearing a closely-fitting jacket with long sleeves. The jacket is buttoned down the front; the buttonholes and the armholes of the sleeves are ornamented with gold embroidery. He wears a lawn collar open in front and without tassels. The hair, beard, and moustache are just becoming grizzled. In the background, on the dexter side, a table with books, and a skull upon it is seen indistinctly: on the sinister is an ‘anatomical table’ of the arterial circulation similar to that which is still in the Royal College of Physicians.

The portrait is painted on a panel, and the size inside the frame is 27 in. by 21 in. It was bought in London for the College by Dr. J. F. Payne on January 19, 1909.

Information kindly supplied by Mr. W. Fleming, Bedell and Secretary.

III

MERTON COLLEGE

A bust three-quarters to the left; plain dark robe with falling collar embroidered at edge and no tassels. The face is thinner, the hair greyer, the collar is wider, and there is more hair on the chin than in the Bodleian portrait. (No. VIII.)

The picture was the gift of Mr. George Hammond to the College.

The portrait is ascribed to Janssen, and Mr. Roberts says, ‘it is probably a replica of a picture which has not been traced.’

Size 30 in. by 25 in.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS

HANGING IN THE DINING-ROOM OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF LONDON.

A portrait of Harvey showing the head and shoulders, nearly full face but turned slightly towards the right of the spectator. He is dressed in a Doctor’s gown with a plain white linen collar without tassels. The hair, moustache, and beard are more grizzled than in No. III and he appears to be a man of about 55-58.

Part 3

The portrait is painted on canvas and measures 23½ in. by 19½ in. inside the frame, which is decorated with the Harvey coat of arms. It was bought in London in 1905 by the College on the recommendation of Dr. Theodore Williams. It resembles, but is not identical with, the portrait engraved by Houbraken after Bemmel at the cost of I. and P. Knapton in 1739, during the lifetime of Dr. Richard Mead.

THE ROLLS PARK PORTRAIT

This portrait, attributed to William Dobson (1610-1646), is in the possession of General Sir Francis Lloyd, K.C.B., D.S.O., to whom the best thanks of the Society are tendered for the loan of the negative from which the collotype was made. The picture was formerly at Rolls Park, Essex, and was removed to Aston Hall, Oswestry, Salop by Captain Richard Lloyd, one of the lineal descendants of the Harvey family through his mother, a daughter of Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey. It appears very doubtful whether the portrait was ever intended to represent Dr. William Harvey.

CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

A half-length hanging in the Fellows’ Combination Room at Caius College, Cambridge. It represents Harvey looking almost full-faced at the spectator. He wears a dark jacket with a large white linen collar. The face is not so thin or worn as in some of the other portraits, and is apparently that of a younger man. The hair is scanty on the top of the head, but he is wearing his moustache and beard in the shape made familiar by other portraits.

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