What can
we learn
from
portraits
of Oliver
Cromwell?
What do these
portraits tell us
about our Queen?
Why do people
have their portrait
painted?
Let’s look at the story of Oliver Cromwell………………..
Cromwell became
an MP – first for
Huntingdon then
for Cambridge.
Cromwell became
very religious – he
thought it was his
job to carry out
God’s work.
During the Civil
War Cromwell
gained lots of
military experience.
Our task today is to look at how Oliver Cromwell
used portraits to tell people about himself.
If you were Cromwell, which aspects of your
character would you want people to know
about?
Cromwell became
Lord Protector of
England, although
he refused the title
of King.
What other questions do I need to ask about this picture?
Who painted this picture?
What does this suggest?
Did the
artist like
Oliver
Cromwell?
What can I see?
This suggests
he thought
appearance
was
important
Cromwell
looks very
smart.
Cromwell
is wearing
armour.
This
suggests
he has
military
experience
"I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not
flatter me at all; but remark all the roughness, pimples, warts and everything,
otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it."
These were Cromwell’s instructions to the artist of this picture. Why do you
think he wanted to be shown ‘warts and all’?
????
????
Think carefully about the picture in
front of you. Which part of
Cromwell’s life do you think it
represents?
Have a go at writing a thought bubble
to go with your image. What was
Cromwell thinking when he had this
picture made?
????
????
Imagine you are writing the
introduction to the images section of
a guidebook to the Cromwell Museum.
What can you say about these
images?
Write a short introduction focusing on
the question ‘What can images tell us
about Oliver Cromwell?’
You could also have a
go at writing the entry
for your picture – what
does it show? What
does it suggest?