called Sir William Berkeley (1606-1677)

The costume and style of this portrait appears to be from the 1690s or later making the traditional subject attribution highly questionable. The portrait was likely painted in England. Governor William Berkeley built Greensprings and married Frances Culpeper Stephens. He was the Governor of Virginia during Bacon’s Rebellion. Following his death in 1677, Lady Berkeley married Philip Ludwell and Greensprings passed into the Ludwell family. This portrait descended in the Ludwell-Lee family in the 1760s moved to Stratford Hall. It descended with a portrait identified as Lady Berkeley and with a portrait of Charles Grymes. It is possible that the portrait represents a member of the Ludwell family.

Dimensions: 49 1/2 x 40 1/2 in. (125.73 x 102.87 cm.)

The subject wears a long white wig and long reddish brown coat and waistcoat. He stands with his right hand on his hip and his left hand resting on a dress sword. A hat is tucked under his left arm. He is standing in an interior with a window to his left with a view to a landscape. He is turned three-quarters to his left.

See: Alexander Wilbourne Weddell, A Memorial Volume of Virginia Historical Portraiture, 1585-1830 (1945), 91-9; Encyclopedia Virginia