Portraits_Pym

John Pym (1584-1643) can be seen standing on the stone floor of Westminster Hall. As key protagonist and spokesman for the prosecution Pym presented the ‘articles of impeachment’ and made the opening statement for the prosecution which the painting seems to depict. Pym entered politics through the influence of the Earl of Bedford, working for the Exchequer in Wiltshire before entering Parliament for Calne, Wiltshire in 1614. He was an architect of Parliament's victory over Charles I in the first phase of the English Civil Wars. He helped form the system of taxation that survived in England until the 19th century. His skill as a parliamentary tactician preserved the unity of Parliament and led to close relations between the government and the city of London.  

On the left-hand side of the painting are the ‘managers’ of the trial. This was the committee of MPs appointed by the House of Commons, where the impeachment had been initiated, to conduct the case for the prosecution.  John Hampden was amongst these.

He himself was one of the five members who narrowly escaped arrest by King Charles I on a charge of high treason in 1642.

Oliver St John was also a manger of the trial. This portrait is after an original by Hollar.

In the 1840s, before the founding of the National Portrait Gallery, it would have been difficult for Woolnoth to gain access to original portraits of the characters in his painting since most were held in private collections. It is likely that he used published collections of prints and engravings as these would have been more accessible to him than the original portraits. There are certainly similarities between some of his figures and their known portraits. The two artists whose work most evidently inspired Woolnoth were engraver Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) and Court portraitist Anthony Van Dyck (1599–1641).

Sir Edward, Lord Littleton (1589-1645) was the Lord Keeper at the time of the Trial. Woolnoth based his portrait upon one by Van Dyck, although Woolnoth has aged his subject for accuracy.