Portrait of Thomas Parr (Oil on canvas. 65 x 53 cm). Inscribed twice recto in a seventeenth-century writing:
Tho Parr. Aiged. 152.A.[o] 1635. and in a later writing, probably eighteenth-century: THO.S PARR AGED 152 / ANNO 1635.
The present painting is remarkable, as it appears to be an authentic likeness, fleetingly sketched while Parr was alive. The painting also has a convincing contemporary inscription. Parr had long been blind. The eyes in this portrait are correspondingly hollow but they are open and it does appear that this painting was executed ad vivum, in other words, when Parr was alive. Other portraits are known but these invariably appear to be painted posthumously.
