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UNUSUAL FACTS AND FIGURES
from the Gallery's Primary Collection of 10,000 portraits
 Henry VII

Oldest dated portrait?

Henry VII
1457-1509
Reigned 1485-1509
by Unknown artist
1505
oil on panel, arched top
16 3/4 in. x 12 in. (425 mm x 305 mm)
NPG 416

Dated 1505.

Henry VII; Henry VIII


Most important portrait?

Henry VIII; Henry VII
by Hans Holbein
circa 1536-1537
ink and watercolour
101 1/2 in. x 54 in. (2578 mm x 1372 mm)
NPG 4027

William Shakespeare 


First portrait acquired?


William Shakespeare
1564-1616
Dramatist and poet
attributed to John Taylor
circa 1610
oil on canvas, feigned oval
21 3/4 x 17 1/4 in.; 552 x 438 mm
NPG 1

Acquired in 1856; appropriately NPG 1.

Statesmen of World War 1 


Tallest portrait?


Statesmen of World War I

by Sir James Guthrie
1924-1930
oil on canvas
156 in. x 132 in. (3962 mm x 3353 mm)
NPG 2463

Nearly 4 metres tall.

General Officers of World War 1


Biggest (and widest) portrait?

General Officers of World War I
by John Singer Sargent
1922
oil on canvas
118 in. x 208 in. (2997 mm x 5283 mm)
NPG 1954

Nearly 5.3 metres wide; 52,000 times larger than the Gallery's smallest portrait (see below)

Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orleans 


Smallest portrait?


Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orleans
1644-1670
Daughter of Charles I
copy attributed to; possibly after Jean Petitot; Pierre Mignard
?17th century
enamel on gold
3/4 in. x 5/8 in. (19 mm x 16 mm)
NPG 1606

Barely larger than a thumbnail.

Rudyard Kipling 


Thinnest portrait?


Rudyard Kipling
1865-1936
Writer and poet
by Harry Furniss
circa 1880-circa 1910
pen and ink
11 1/4 in. x 2 7/8 in. (286 mm x 73 mm)
NPG 3478


Nearly 4 times taller than it is wide.

Edward VI 
Squattest portrait?


Edward VI
1537-1553
Reigned 1547-53, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
by William Scrots
1546
oil on panel, anamorphosis
16 3/4 in. x 63 in. (425 mm x 1600 mm)
NPG 1299

Nearly 4 times wider than it is high.

 


Portrait with most sitters?


The House of Commons, 1833

by Sir George Hayter
1833-1843
oil on canvas
118 1/4 in. x 196 in. (3003 mm x 4978 mm)
NPG 54

Nearly 400 figures, 320 of which have been identified.

William Ewart Gladstone 


Male sitter represented most?

William Ewart Gladstone, represented in 65 portraits.

 
Female sitter represented most?


Elizabeth II, represented in 50 portraits.


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All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 20 November 2008


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