The Portrait of William Kiffin

Larry Kreitzer of Regent's Park College, Oxford has written a pamphlet outlining the history of the remarkable portrait of William Kiffin. As the web notice states:

It is a detailed study of the oil painting of the wealthy London merchant, which was done in 1667 when Kiffin was 50 years old. The painting remains the only known artistic representation of the Particular Baptist leader made during his life-time (1616-1701). This study represents the first published investigation into the painting, arguably the finest example extant of a 17th-century Baptist figure within the art world

The study chronicles how the painting was passed down the Kiffin family line, how it was bequeathed to the Baptist Missionary Society in 1857, and how it eventually came to be at the college in Oxford. The pamphlet contains eleven illustrations, including two colour pictures of the 1667 portrait itself; it also provides a ‘Family-Tree of William Kiffin’, which fills in many gaps about his immediate family and his descendants, including the family connection to Oliver Cromwell.