Portrait of Martin Heton (1554-1609), Bishop of Ely, half-length, in a grey jerkin, white ruff, and black cap, a bible in his left hand, gloves in his right

The present portrait is likely to be the prototype for the portrait of the sitter, listed as type 'A' in John Ingamells' The English Episcopal Portrait 1559-1835: A Catalogue, London, 1981, pp.219-220), of which there are versions at Christ Church, Oxford, acquired by the college c.1609-10, shortly after the sitter's death in 1609, and a later 19th Century copy at the Bishop's House, Ely. The present work differs from these later versions as here the bible is shown in his left hand, and the coat-of-arms is in the opposite (right) corner, incorporating a more complex configuration than the simple three crown arms of Ely as found in the later versions. The sitter appears somewhat younger and more portly, with a shorter beard.

Martin Heton was educated at Westminster School, and graduated from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1574, acquring his M.A. in 1578. In 1588 he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, and was Dean of Winchester from 1589-1599. He was consecrated as Bishop of Ely from 1600 to his death in 1609. Sir John Harrington, a courtier to King James I, recorded that Heton, a large man, was admired for his eloquence: '[Whilst] fat men were wont to make lean sermons, his were not lean, but larded with much good learning' (Harington, 2.111). He was buried in Ely Cathedral, with a life-size alabaster recumbant effigy.