George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670)

Artist/Maker
Davis, Edward __Engraver
Place Made
London Great Britain
Date Made
1679
Medium
ink on paper
Dimensions
HOA: 16 1/2″; WOA: 11 1/2″
Accession Number
5690.2
Description
Engraved portrait of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle. Monck was born in Devon, England, in 1608 to a gentry family. The second son, he became a mercenary soldier, fighting in Spain and then Netherlands. Returning to England in 1638, he served along the Scottish border during the Bishops’ Wars and in Ireland during the Rebellion of 1641.

During the English Civil War he fought on behalf of Charles I, was captured by the Parliamentary forces, and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Following the defeat and death of Charles I, Monck cunningly joined the Parliamentary forces in their campaigns in Ireland and Scotland. Cromwell appointed him Governor of Scotland. Following Cromwell’s death he pivoted his support–and the troops under his command–to Charles II. In 1663, following his support of the restoration of the English monarchy under Charles II, he was named one of the eight Lords Proprietors of Carolina.

DESCRIPTION:A half length portrait of a man with long hair dressed in a suit of armor with fabric draped around him. He is standing before a landscape background, holding an unknown object in his left hand.

Credit Line
Gift of Thomas A. Gray