Portraits of Dr. William HarveyRoyal Society of Medicine (Great Britain)
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Portraits of Dr. William Harvey
Royal Society of Medicine (Great Britain)
Harvey, William, 1578-1657 -- Portraits
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.)
[Illustration: VIII]
IX
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
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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