As well as Winchester College, William of Wykeham (1324-1404) founded New College, Oxford. He is depicted here with vignettes of these two buildings in the upper left and right (Winchester is on the right).

This is a copy of the portrait of Wykeham by Sampson Strong, commissioned by New College in 1596. The cost of the Winchester painting is recorded in the Bursars’ Accounts for 1596-97, in the second quarter (i.e. early 1597), at a cost of £4 12s 6d.

This portrait was the basis for engravings by Jacobus Houbraken (dated 1738, ‘from a picture at Winchester College’) and Charles Grignion (undated, late 18th century, ‘taken from the most ancient picture of him preserved in Winchester College’).

Literature: Winchester Archaeological Society, Winchester College: its history, buildings and customs (Winchester, 1926), p. 159; R.E. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the Possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, 3 vols (Oxford, 1935), II, p. 146; R. Foster (ed.), Fifty Treasures from Winchester College (London, 2019), p. 8

Provenance: Commissioned in 1597 for £4-12-6 (see notes).

Location: Master in College’s dining-room