Self-Portrait
by GOWER, George, Oil on panel, 56 x 50 cm
In Gower’s self-portrait of 1579 is a pair of scales with his arms outweighed by dividers, the instrument of the painter’s craft; in doggerel verse at top right he says that “yovthfull wayes me did intyse [entice], from armes and uertewe [virtue] yet thankt be God for his god gift, w[hi]ch long did rest as slepe”, meaning presumably that he had neglected his talent in early youth. But “Now skill reuyues [revives] with gayne … by pensils [brushes] trade” - his profession is profitable. It is also honourable: arms display his birth, and ‘what Parents bare by iust renowne, my skill mayntenes [maintains] the prayes [praise]”.