The image displays a man in a frontal seated position. He has a prominent nose, pronounced lips, and a small beard. His hair is shoulder-length, wavy, and parted in the center. He wears a dark garment with a white collar and extended cuffs. In his left hand, he holds a human skull on a table. His right hand is raised in a gesture. The background includes a curtain on the left and a cloud on the right with three descending light beams. The frame has inscriptions like "LIGNO CHRISTI FIXUS," "Sursum," and "Deorsum."
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The image displays a man in a frontal seated position. He has a prominent nose, pronounced lips, and a small beard. His hair is shoulder-length, wavy, and parted in the center. He wears a dark garment with a white collar and extended cuffs. In his left hand, he holds a human skull on a table. His right hand is raised in a gesture. The background includes a curtain on the left and a cloud on the right with three descending light beams. The frame has inscriptions like "LIGNO CHRISTI FIXUS," "Sursum," and "Deorsum."

National Gallery of Art · Print

Benjamin Spenser (?)

Thomas Cross

Medium
engraving
Dimensions
plate: 22.6 × 15.5 cm (8 7/8 × 6 1/8 in.)
Classification
Print · Historical Portrait
Accession number
1951.11.585
Credit line
Rosenwald Collection
Time span
1601 to 1650
Department
CG-E

Subjects and terms

  • British
Provenance

W. B. Dukes [d. 1942], London, (L.2757a); (Sotheby, London, sale July 8, 1942, no. 112); Hermann Marx [d. 1948], Surrey, (L.2816a); (Sotheby, London, sale May 24, 1948, no. 165); Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891 - 1979], Philadelphia, (L.1932d); gift to NGA, 1951.

NGA object ID 40867. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.