(b ?1595-1610; d ?1659). English painter. He was the favourite painter of the Parliamentarian leaders during the Commonwealth and Protectorate (1649-58) and worked chiefly as an image-maker for Oliver Cromwell and his immediate circle. His austere and direct portraits of John Lambert (1619-84), Thomas Fairfax (1612-71) and Henry Ireton (1611-51) are known through engravings and copies after the originals. Copies of Walker's portraits of Cromwell (London, N.P.G.; and c. 1649, Leeds, C.A.G.) were mass-produced, and the images were also popularized through the engravings of William Faithorne. Walker had little to offer the market for fashionable portraiture, which was dominated by Lely.
See the Abbreviations for further details.
