A half-figure directed to the left, three-quarter face, looking at the spectator, in dark close-fitting cloak with a row of closely-placed buttons in the centre, white collar (which meets at the throat and is cut square) without tassels, black skull-cap, which almost entirely covers the hair, except at the left side; grey moustache, slight grey hair on lower chin. Size about 30 in. by 25 in. It probably represents Harvey between fifty and sixty years of age.
This portrait is stated in C. R. Weed’s _Descriptive Catalogue of the Portraits in the Possession of the Royal Society_, 1860, p. 36, to be by De Reyn, but in the numerous engravings of it the painter is given as Janssen. It was presented to the Royal Society by the Rev. John Mapletoft, M.D. (1631-1721), who was elected F.R.S. February 10, 1675-6. The collotype is made from a steel engraving of the picture.
Jan de Reyn (1610-1678) was a pupil of Van Dyck, whom he accompanied to England and after whose death in 1641 he returned to his home at Dunkirk.
A copy of the bust of Harvey by William Faithorne (the elder) (1616-1691). The bust, without the pedestal and allegorical figures, forms the frontispiece to the English edition of _The Anatomical Exercitations concerning the Generation of Living Creatures_, published during Harvey’s lifetime in 1653. The likeness is probably a good one, as Faithorne was personally known to Harvey and he was one of the most distinguished engravers and portrait painters of his time. It should therefore represent Harvey as he appeared at the age of 65 or 66 years.
This portrait is at King’s Weston House near Bristol in Gloucestershire, and is in the possession of P. Napier Miles, Esq., to whom the Historical Section offers its grateful thanks for the facilities he has offered for obtaining a successful photograph. Thanks are also given to Dr. J. A. Nixon of Clifton, who has spared himself no trouble to obtain the photograph from which the present collotype was made.
The picture is an oil-painting on canvas measuring 40 in. by 28 in. It is let into the wall on the right-hand side of the fireplace, with the light of the great west or north-west window falling full upon it. It is surrounded by a plaster moulding grained in imitation of a light wooden frame. The portrait is that of an old man--nearer 80 than 70--with a small oval face, hollow-cheeked and wide-browed. The face is deeply lined and the eyes sunken. The beard is pointed, the hair grey, scantier and more nearly white than in Janssen’s picture at the Royal College of Physicians. The whole expression is one of fatigue. He is sitting in a chair at a table, clothed in black and bare-headed. His gown is short-sleeved, without strings or buttons. The sleeves of a more shiny (velvet?) jacket or doublet show below the short sleeves of the gown. They end in a narrow white linen cuff, which is turned back to a depth of about half an inch. The gown, which is edged with fur, is open in front and shows the breast of a black velvet jacket, which is quite plain, without buttons or join in front. Round the neck is a soft white collar, smoothly turned down and not rumpled as in Janssen’s picture. The linen of the collar and cuffs is of delicate texture, as is shown by its transparency. Harvey is represented sitting in a chair at a table, with the right hand resting upon a book, in old calf binding without lettering, which stands on end with its back to the spectator. The hands are exquisitely painted, small and very life-like. It is almost possible to feel the difference between the grasp of the right hand, which holds the book, and that of the left, which lies negligently on the end of the arm of the chair. The face, which is turned three-quarters to the left, has very decided high lights on the forehead and left cheek. The table is on the left side of the picture, and the colour of the chair, table cover--which is naturally indented by the knee of the sitter--and book are all of a light brown. The chair resembles that in Janssen’s picture. It has become brown with age, but was perhaps originally pink. The background of the picture, which is without detail, is of a neutral brown tint, which lies between raw sienna and burnt umber, and is almost identical with the colour of the chair and table, which are thus rendered inconspicuous, though the figure is thereby thrown into relief. The canvas is labelled ‘Dr. Harvey’ in bold letters at the top right-hand corner. A copy in oils, 15 in. by 12 in., was made for Dr. Nixon and is signed ‘Frank Holmes, Clifton, 1913’.