Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Walker, Robert (d.1658?)
WALKER, ROBERT (d. 1658?), portrait-painter, was the chief painter of the parliamentary party during the Commonwealth. Nothing is known of his early life. His manner of painting, though strongly influenced by that of Van Dyck, is yet distinctive enough to forbid his being ranked among Van Dyck's immediate pupils. Walker is chiefly known by his portraits of Oliver Cromwell, and, with the exception of the portraits by Samuel Cooper [q. v.], it is to Walker that posterity is mainly indebted for its knowledge of the Protector's features. The two best known types—the earlier representing him in armour with a page tying on his sash; the later, full face to the waist in armour—have been frequently repeated and copied. The best example of the former is perhaps the painting now in the National Portrait Gallery, which was formerly in the possession of the Rich family. This likeness was considered by John Evelyn (1620–1706) [q. v.], the diarist, to be the truest representation of Cromwell which he knew (see Numismata, p. 339). There are repetitions of this portrait at Althorp, Hagley, and elsewhere. The most interesting example of the latter portrait is perhaps that in the Pitti Palace at Florence (under the name of Sir Peter Lely), which was acquired by the Grand Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany shortly after Cromwell's death. In another portrait by Walker, Cromwell wears a gold chain and decoration sent to him by Queen Christina of Sweden. Walker painted Ireton, Lambert (examples of these two in the National Portrait Gallery), Fleetwood, Serjeant Keeble, and other prominent members of the parliamentary government. Evelyn himself sat to him, as stated in his ‘Diary’ for 1 July 1648: ‘I sate for my picture, in which there is a death's head, to Mr. Walker, that excellent painter;’ and again 6 July 1650: ‘To Mr. Walker's, a good painter, who shew'd me an excellent copie of Titian.’ This copy of Titian, however, does not appear, as sometimes stated, to have been painted by Walker himself. One of Walker's most excellent paintings is the portrait of William Faithorne the elder [q. v.], now in the National Portrait Gallery. In 1652, on the death of the Earl of Arundel, Walker was allotted apartments in Arundel House, which had been seized by the parliament. He is stated to have died in 1658. He painted his own portrait three times. Two similar portraits are in the National Portrait Gallery and at Hampton Court; and one of these portraits was finely engraved in his lifetime by Peter Lombart. A third example, with variations, is in the university galleries at Oxford.
[Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting, ed. Wornum; De Piles's Art of Painting (supplement); Noble's Hist. of the House of Cromwell; Granger's Biogr. Hist. of England (manuscript notes by G. Scharf); Cat. of the National Portrait Gallery.]