GERARD VAN HONTHORST | A portrait of a gentleman, half-length, believed to be Sir Thomas Ogle, wearing a suit of armour, with a white collar and an orange sash

Richard Ratcliffe, Manor House, Waddington, Lincoln;

Captain Sir Everard Radcliffe, Rudding Park, Harrogate, Yorkshire;

His sale on the premises, Christie’s, 16 October 1972, lot 376 (as Attributed to Honthorst).

The present work is dated to 1644, near the end of Honthorst's career, after he had returned to the Hague from England. The sitter is believed to be Sir Thomas Ogle due to a 17th century inscription on the reverse of the panel. There is little information about Ogle, likely due to an attempt by his family to cover up his scandals, a theory which is supported by his only recorded mention. Samuel Johnson in his Lives of the most eminent English poets, mentions Ogle while recounting an anecdote about the life of Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset (1643-1706) - Ogle, Sackville and Sir Charles Sedley were apparently fined and thrown out from the Cock Tavern in Covent Garden for getting drunk and standing naked in the crowd while performing obscene poses and addressing people with profane language.¹

¹ S. Johnson, Lives of the most eminent English poets, London 1779

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Johnson/The-Lives-of-the-Poets