Portraits of Dr. William Harvey

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.

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.

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.

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.

The painting measures 23½ in, by 20½ in. It was given to the College in 1798 by the Earl of Leicester, afterwards Marquis of Townshend. The painter is unknown.

Information received from the Master of the College--Dr. Hugh Kerr Anderson F.R.S.--and from Dr. J. Venn, F.R.S.

Aberdeen Portrait

A bust with falling collar, no tassels. The collar embroidered at the edge as in the portrait at Merton College, Oxford. The hair is scantier and the face is that of an older man than in the Merton College Portrait (No. III).

This picture was presented to the Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society by Sir Walter Farquhar on July 4, 1815, with the statement that it had been given to him ‘some time ago’ by Lord Besborough.

The photograph from which the collotype was made was kindly lent by Dr. Matthew Hay, Professor of Forensic Medicine and Public Health in the University of Aberdeen.

Bodleian Library Portrait

The Bodleian Library at Oxford contains a portrait of William Harvey ascribed to J. Wollaston. It is a bust, three-quarters to left; long grey hair, brushed back off the forehead, grey moustache and tuft on chin; face deeply lined; white falling collar with tassel; black gown; painted in an oval spandrel. A canvas 30 in. by 25 in.

Given to the University by Humphrey Bartholomew of University College in 1735 in his set of eight doctors.

The portrait is similar, but not exactly so, to a mezzotint by McArdell. (Catalogue of Oxford Portraits. Compiled by Mrs. Reginald Lane Poole, vol. i, p. 51, No. 126, Oxford, 1812.)

Dr. Franck Bright’s Portrait of Harvey

This portrait is undoubtedly the most pleasing picture of Dr. William Harvey. It is owned by the Rev. James Franck Bright, D.D., formerly Master of University College, Oxford. The picture is at Hollow Hill, Ditchingham, Norfolk, and the Historical Section is greatly indebted to Dr. Bright for lending the negative from which this collotype has been made. The picture was inherited from Dr. Richard Bright (1789-1858), physician to Guy’s Hospital, to whom it was given by Sir Francis Milman, M.D. (1746-1821). It is unsigned and has always been attributed to Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641), though several later critics prefer to think that it was painted by William van Bemmel (1630-1708).

It is a three-quarter length on canvas measuring 4 ft. 3½ in. by 3 ft. 4½ in., and represents Harvey standing and leaning lightly upon a crutch stick which he holds in his right hand, whilst in his left is a handkerchief with a gold fringe. He is dressed soberly in black with the plain white collar. The hair is iron-grey and long, as we know that he usually wore it. The face is small, drawn, pointed, with a good strong brow and forehead and a delicate mouth, shaded but not concealed by the small moustache and slightly peaked beard. The expression is remarkably thoughtful and almost suffering, for the painter has represented the mood in which Dr. Ent found him, when in reply to the question, ‘Satin’ salva omnia?’ he gave the noble answer, ‘Qui possint, ubi turbarum plena respublica, egoque adhuc ipsemet in alto mari?’ The hands are singularly delicate and are most beautifully painted, with much character. There is no background to the picture, but in the right top quarter of the canvas is painted the coat armour usually assigned to the Harvey family, complete with crest and motto, which are not elsewhere given. The arms are those of the ancient Harvy family quartered with the coat used by Sir Daniel Harvey of Coombe Hill, Surrey, viz. Argent, two bars wavy, sable on a chief of the last three crosses patée fitchée or; and or, a chief indented sable, three crescents argent. The crest is the ‘stemma’ of the lighted candle entwined by two serpents and the motto ‘piu (H)arde, piu Splend(ide)’. The crest is a specially interesting feature of the armorial bearings, for it is similar to the ‘stemma’ or memorial to Harvey discovered at Padua in 1893 and described by Prof. Darwin in the Cambridge Antiquarian Society’s Communications, vol. viii (1894). The motto, too, does not appear elsewhere, so it may be assumed that these armorial bearings were adopted by William Harvey for his individual use. It is interesting to speculate whether the ‘stemma’ at Padua was placed in position when Harvey was a student and was thus prophetic, or whether it was not put into the cloister by his order when he visited Padua many years later and had already made his name as ‘a medical light’, in which case the crest is merely symbolic.

Oil Painting by Cornelius Janssen

Three-quarter figure, sitting in a large arm-chair, directed to the left; three-quarter face, looking at the spectator; in gown, the arms of which are fastened with braided loops; the plum-coloured velvet sleeves of the under-coat have reversed cuffs. The left hand rests on a stone parapet, the finger outstretched as if in demonstration; the right hand holds a doctor’s hat, which rests between the knees and is held sideways. The face is thin and long, with a small peaked beard and scanty grey hair. There is a stone pillar in the middle background; curtain to right, clouds to left. Size of canvas 52 in. by 42 in.

The pedigree and authenticity of this portrait are incontestable, as it was one of the three pictures saved at the Great Fire of London in 1666, which destroyed the College of Physicians then situated in Amen Corner. It is possible that the portrait was expressly painted for the College and it may have been a gift from Harvey himself. It is a pleasing picture spoilt by the right hand, which is so painted as to make it seem deformed.

The painter Cornelius Janssen or Janson van Keulen (1590-1664) lived in England from about 1618, until 1648, and was for the whole of that time a popular portrait painter. There are several reputed Janssen portraits of Harvey, some at least of which may have been painted as replicas by one or other of Janssen’s pupils.

Mr. D’arcy Power’s Portrait of Harvey

A three-quarter length of Harvey on a panel measuring 15½ in. x 12½ in. Harvey is represented standing in his study, with his left hand resting upon a table whereon is spread a diagram of the arterial system. He is clothed in a long-sleeved, damascened waistcoat confined at the waist by a belt, with collar and wristbands of point lace. Over all he wears a long gown heavily trimmed with fur. The background is a green curtain partially drawn aside to show the shelves of his study, and on the curtain is an inscription in red letters: ‘Gulielmus Harveus M.D. Aet. sue 61, 1639.’ The accessories are interesting. On the table a watch keeps down the edge of the diagram to prevent it folding up. There is an inkstand with a quill pen in it and a terrestrial globe. Immediately behind the table is a shelf on which is a simple microscope fitted with a coarse and fine adjustment, a retort partly filled with fluid, a pair of scissors, a dissecting-knife, and a sheet of paper. The bookcase consists of six wooden shelves divided by a median partition. The lowermost shelf has a urine-glass and a minim measure. In the partition nearest Harvey are two flasks, one containing a green, the other a red fluid; a wide-mouthed jar covered with parchment--the jar is earthenware--and behind it are two square bottles like case-bottles. A quire of loose paper leans against it. On the other side of the partition of this lower shelf are two bottles, one unstoppered, the other stoppered, filled respectively with a red and green fluid. There is also an object like a catherine wheel. The second shelf from the bottom contains thirteen dumpy duodecimo volumes bound uniformly in parchment, whilst upon the other side of the partition are three quarto volumes well bound in morocco and piled one upon the other. The third shelf from the bottom is filled with books, four of which are smaller than the rest. The fourth shelf is wholly filled with books except for a space showing where one has been removed. The fifth shelf contains books of various sizes. On the top shelf are two skulls, a square case upon which stands a stoppered phial filled with some red substance, and four earthenware jars whose mouths are closed with parchment covers tied on. The picture is unsigned. It is painted in the traditional style, where much attention was paid to the minute details of dress and accessories, so that the work became almost that of a miniaturist. The face is clearly that of Harvey, a little lined, beard and moustache of the usual cut, hair worn long, partly hidden by a skull-cap. It represents Harvey in his happier days when as yet the King his master was alive, for in 1639--the date of the picture--he had just been appointed Senior Physician in Ordinary to the King, a post which carried with it those lodgings at Whitehall pillaged by the mob in 1642, when his goods were stolen and his papers scattered. The picture may show these very lodgings. In spite of its appearance of age there is reason to doubt whether it is a contemporary portrait.