Robert Nanteuil (c. 1623 – 1678)

John Evelyn

Paris, about 1650

Engraving

This engraving portrays Sir John Evelyn (1620-1706), the English writer known for his publications on culture, politics and the arts. Evelyn commissioned this portrait by Nanteuil whilst visiting Paris during the early 1650s. It is set in a simple oval and rests on an architectural plinth that is covered with Evelyn’s writings. Evelyn was particularly known for his treatise on trees, Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest Trees, written in 1664. The fourth edition (1706) appeared just after his death and featured this engraving which had been produced more than fifty years earlier.

Purchased in 1957 (No. 57. 2)