Property of a Gentleman 16th Century A pair of portraits of...

Hammer

£58,000

Property of a Gentleman

16th Century
A pair of portraits of Margaret Roper and William Roper

Margaret Roper with inscription 'AETATIS SU[A]E 32' (lit: In her 32nd year) 

William Roper with inscription 'ANNO 1537' (lit: In the year 1537)

Oil on panel
On the portrait of Margaret Roper there is an inscription, verso 'Titian pinxt 1547'.

On the portrait of William Roper there is an inscription, verso 'Titian pinxt'.

In the portrait of Margaret Roper there is a plaque with an inscription painted above her head on the right wall. It reads 'AETATIS SU[A]E 32' (lit: In her 32nd year). In the portrait of her husband, William Roper, there is an inscription painted above his head on the left wall which reads 'ANNO 1537' (lit: In the year 1537). 

Margaret Roper (1505–1544) was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas More. She is considered to have been one of the most learned women in sixteenth-century England and was a scholar as revered as those male scholars in her society, in spite of the prejudices of her time.

Roper's best known publication is a Latin-to-English translation of Erasmus' Precatio Dominica. It is a testament to her rare and unusual abilities, that Erasmus entrusted her with this task. In addition, she wrote many Latin epistles and English letters, as well as an original treatise entitled The Four Last Things. She also translated the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius from the Greek into the Latin language.

William Roper the second was the eldest son of John Roper (d. 1524), Attorney-General to Henry VIII, and his wife Jane (died c.1544), daughter and coheir of Sir John Fyneux, Chief Justice of King's Bench. His biography of his father-in-law, Sir Thomas More, is still held in high-regard for its accuracy and clear sense of devotion.  

He was educated at one of the English universities and the studied law at Lincoln's Inn, being called to the bar in 1525. Aged about twenty-three it is thought he joined the household of Sir Thomas More, marrying Margaret, More's eldest daughter, in 1521.

Erasmus, who knew More and his family well, described Roper as a young man "who is wealthy, of excellent and modest character and not unacquainted with literature". Roper became a convert to the Lutheran doctrine of Justification by Faith and spoke so freely of his belief that he was summoned to appear before Cardinal Wolsey on an accusation of heresy. 

Provenance:

• Margaret and William Roper;


• By descent to Hon. Anne Maria Roper (1719 - 1782), mother of Admiral Sir Charles Tyler (1760 - 1835);


• By direct descent through the Tyler family to the current owner.