English: Attributed to Hieronimos Custodis (born Antwerp, active in London circa 1587 - 1593)

Portrait of Sir John Harington of Kelston (1561–1612), three-quarter length, in black with a ruff and a sword

dated upper left: ANNO DNI. 1592:

oil on oak panel

83.9 x 62.2 cm.; 33 x 24½ in.

This painting relates closely to two portraits of Sir John Harington attributed to Custodis, both of which date to 1590–95: one, which was last offered in these Rooms, 2 May 2012, lot 43, in which the sitter faces in the opposite direction; and the other, a double-portrait with Harington's wife, Mary Rogers, which was sold at Christie's, London, 2 May 2013, lot 281, in which the sitter's pose is almost identical, though he does not wear the large ring that appears on his thumb, here.

Harington was a prominent member of Elizabeth I's court, and one of the Queen's godsons. Born in Kelston, Somerset, his father, John Harington (d. 1582), was a poet and his mother, Isabella Markham (d. 1579), was a gentlewoman of the Queen's Privy Chamber. Harington served under the Earl of Essex in Ireland but is best remembered today for his literary work as a poet, epigrammatist and translator. Harington dedicated the first complete translation of Orlando Furioso, Ludovico Ariosto's epic romance poem, to Elizabeth I in 1591, and his translation of Book VI of Virgil's Aeneid to James I in 1604. Harington is also credited with the invention of the water-closet.