Thomas Otway (1652-1685) was a Commoner of Winchester College in 1668, and Commoner of Christ Church, Oxford, 1669-1672. He was the author of Venice Preserv’d (1682) and many other successful plays. This portrait is based on an engraving by Jacobus Houbraken (published in 1741), after a lost painting by Mary Beale (1633-1699).

Literature: Jessica Munns, ‘Otway, Thomas (1652-1685)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004)

Provenance: Purchased for £10 in 1931

Location: Fellows’ Library, Long Gallery