1 846-47 
CROMWELL’S PORTRAIT 
At the end of this month the portrait of Crom- 
well which Owen had had copied from the original 
in the Pitti Palace at Florence arrived at the 
College of Surgeons. As the original had been 
painted in Cromwell’s lifetime for the then Grand 
Duke, this portrait was considered one of the 
most trustworthy likenesses of the Protector. 
Carlyle had been looking forward with some 
eagerness to seeing the portrait, and as soon as 
it arrived both he and his wife came over to see 
it. The diary thus records his visit : — 
‘ Mr. Carlyle has a portrait of Cromwell, 
but in quite a different style ; he greatly admired 
our picture, and studied it attentively. It is 
curious how like his books Carlyle's conversation 
is. He grew very eloquent when telling us of the 
.Way in which he was plagued by people who would 
insist upon sending him their books. Young 
ladies especially often wanted his opinion on 
their poetry. “ 1 hate poetry,” he said comically. 
I asked him if he hated Horne’s “ Orion.” “ Ah,” 
he said, “Horne’s a clever man.” We walked 
about in the museum, looking chiefly at fossils. 
‘ '^rd . — More people to see Cromwell. He has 
held quite a levee.’ 
