The Bursars’ Accounts for 1808-1809 record a payment to ‘Cave, Painter, including the painting of the faithful servant, £6.11.7’. The picture hung in a passageway beneath the College kitchens, where it remains today. It replaced a much older wall painting, many times repainted. The original image, together with a set of explanatory Latin verses, had been devised by John Hoskyns, a Scholar who entered College in 1579. Many other representations of the Trusty Servant, in various media, are in the College’s collection. Ao50 is a variant of the present painting, probably also by William Cave and painted around 1809. Ao53 is a reduced copy of the present painting, dating from the mid 19^th century.

Provenance: Commissioned by the College in 1809

Exhibited: ‘Below Stairs: 400 years of servants’ portraits’, National Portrait Gallery, London and Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, 2003-2004

Literature: H.C. Adams, Wykehamica: a history of Winchester College and Commoners (Oxford, 1878), p. 42; T.F. Kirby, Annals of Winchester College (London, 1892), pp. 39-41; The Wykehamist, Vol. XII, No. 583, 1919; The Wykehamist, Vol. XIV, No. 652, 1924; Winchester Archaeological Society, Winchester College: its history, buildings and customs (Winchester, 1926), pp. 158-59; J.D’E. Firth, Winchester College (London, 1949), p. 22; Barbara Carpenter Turner, ‘A notable family of artists: the Caves of Winchester’, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club, vol 22 (1961), pp. 30-34; G. Waterfield, A. French and M. Craske, Below Stairs: 400 years of servants’ portraits (London, 2003), pp. 9, 79, 196

Location: Trusty Servant Passage