The Collection has commented: ‘Here is a copy of our comments from our research into the SCC collections here. We are afraid it adds nothing much to what you have already and as its provenance is unknown it may not be a Somerset man.

‘Painted portrait of a judge by an unknown artist, oil on canvas, displayed in a gilt frame. The unknown man is shown seated from the waist up against a plain background. He wears the red robes and plain bands of a judge of the mid 17th Century with a skullcap over his natural hair. The painting probably dates to around 1630-1660.’’

Can one tell from the dress what kind of judge he was, or at what level, or in what location? Based on the similarity of dress to that of the two judges linked above, he must have been a person of some importance.

If nothing else, this picture should be listed under British School.

Is there a monogram at lower left?

The costume is of a late 17th century Judge and is contemporary with judges of the bloody assizes of 1685. Wikipedia has a list of 17thc judges, good place to begin research.

The hair is earlier than 1680s, and essentially the same dress was worn earlier in the century, as seen in the two examples linked above the comments section.

Jacinto, a detail of the lower left corner is attached.

Thanks, Marion. It's probably not definite enough to be a monogram; I suppose it may be a stray or extraneous mark.

We are unlikely to identify the sitter, I'm afraid, but this can certainly be listed under British School for search purposes. The current dating seems reasonable. Pending review by a Group Leader, I expect this should probably close.