Richard Gibson. Richard Gibson, known as Dwarf Gibson, was a painter of portrait miniatures and a court dwarf in England during the reigns of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Charles II, and William III and Mary II. Both Andrew Marvell and Edmund Waller wrote poems addressed to him.
His early life is undocumented, but he is said to have been a page in the service of a lady in Mortlake, who recognised his artistic talent. She supported him to study art under Francis Cleyn, director of design at the Mortlake Tapestry Works.
In the 1630s, Gibson was working for Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, who was the Lord Chamberlain. He is referred to as little Dick, my lord Chamberlain's page in notebooks recording a number of copies he made of existing paintings in royal and aristocratic collections.
At the same time he was producing original portrait paintings for aristocratic clients. Herbert was his most important early patron, and may have introduced him to Peter Lely, with whom Gibson would enjoy a close and productive relationship.
Lely painted several portraits of Gibson. Gibson was appointed Page of the Back Stairs under Charles I. During the English Civil War Gibson stayed in London with Pembroke, and thus became associated with the Parliamentary faction. By the 1650s Gibson appears to have been closely linked to Charles Dormer, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon, grandson of the Earl of Pembroke. During Crom
His early life is undocumented, but he is said to have been a page in the service of a lady in Mortlake, who recognised his artistic talent. She supported him to study art under Francis Cleyn, director of design at the Mortlake Tapestry Works.
In the 1630s, Gibson was working for Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, who was the Lord Chamberlain. He is referred to as little Dick, my lord Chamberlain's page in notebooks recording a number of copies he made of existing paintings in royal and aristocratic collections.
At the same time he was producing original portrait paintings for aristocratic clients. Herbert was his most important early patron, and may have introduced him to Peter Lely, with whom Gibson would enjoy a close and productive relationship.
Lely painted several portraits of Gibson. Gibson was appointed Page of the Back Stairs under Charles I. During the English Civil War Gibson stayed in London with Pembroke, and thus became associated with the Parliamentary faction. By the 1650s Gibson appears to have been closely linked to Charles Dormer, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon, grandson of the Earl of Pembroke. During Crom
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