'Cromwell', 1655

Engraving by R Pranker after Robert Pyle, 1760 (c), published 1800 (c).

Full length portrait in armour, with sword hanging by his side and a marshal's baton held against his thigh.

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) rose to prominence in the committees of the House of Commons and fought in the early campaigns of the Civil Wars of Britain (1639-1651) under the Parliamentarian Earl of Essex. In 1644, he commanded the cavalry of the Eastern Association at the Battle of Marston Moor; in 1645 he was in command of the cavalry of the newly-formed New Model Army at the Battle of Naseby.