Captain John Hunnynge, aged 26 : en salle — Victoria and Albert Museum

Object Type

This painting seems to be one of a series of portraits of Elizabeth I's commanders in the wars against the Spanish. They all show military men, armed and very richly dressed, often with a depiction of a battle in the background.

People

This may be a portrait of Captain John Hunnynge (1557-1586), one of the brave men the Queen sent out to The Netherlands in 1585, under the incompetent leadership of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. The English forces were allies of the Dutch in their bitter struggle against their oppressive Spanish rulers.

Subjects Depicted

Hunnynge's splendid outfit includes an unusual cap, which has on the front the spines of a porcupine. Other commanders in portraits of this period wear this kind of cap. It may be significant that the badge of Sir Philip Sydney, who also took part in the campaign, was the porcupine, symbolising obstinate defence. A full-length portrait of the naval commander Sir Francis Drake in the National Portrait Gallery, London, also includes a soft cap with porcupine quills on the front. Sydney was killed in The Netherlands in 1586, at the battle of Zutphen. Since John Hunnynge died in the same year, it may be that he perished there as well.