ENGLISH SCHOOL (C. 1586) PORTRAIT OF HENRY HASTINGS, 5TH BARON AND 3RD EARL OF HUNTINGDON Oil on canvas Inscribed Aetatis 50 (upper centre) and dated 1586 above a coat of arms (upper left) 123 x 99.5cm (48¼ x 39 in.) Henry Hastings, third earl of Huntingdon (1536?-1595) was the eldest son of Francis Hastings, second earl of Huntingdon (1513/14-1560) and his wife, Katherine Pole (d. 1576) . His grandfather George Hastings, first earl of Huntingdon, a personal friend of Henry VIII, introduced him to the court at a very early age. A year or so senior to Edward VI, Lord Hastings joined the young prince at his studies at the king"s invitation and the two men remained close as adults. In 1553, Hastings married Catherine Dudley, daughter of the Duke of Northumberland, whose sister-in-law was Lady Jane Grey. When Queen Mary succeeded to the throne after Jane"s brief reign, this alliance caused Hastings to be imprisoned in the Tower of London. After his release he continued to be a supporter of Mary and then of Elizabeth I. In 1572 he was appointed president of the Council of the North. During the troubled period between the flight of Mary to England in 1568 and the defeat of the Spanish Armada he was frequently employed in the north of England.Apart from the present work there are at least four other known portraits of this important sitter, which can be found in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG 1574) , Leicester Art Gallery (dated 1623) , the collection of Auglesey Abbey (dated 1588) , and the Tower of London Royal Armouries (in Greenwich Armour, dated 1588) .