John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (1485-1555)

A portrait drawing of John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (1485-1555). A bust length portrait facing three-quarters to the left. He is shown wearing a skull cap. Inscribed in an eighteenth-century hand at upper left and right: I Russell Ld Privy Seale...with one Eye.

Born in Dorset, John Russell was knighted c.1513. He was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520, the great meeting of Henry VIII and Francis I of France. Two years later Russell returned to France on a military campaign, during which he lost the use of his right eye, as mentioned in the inscription. From 1540 to 1542 he served as Lord High Admiral, and later as Lord Privy Seal.