John Bettes the Elder

Kingdom of England

John Bettes the Elder (active c. 1531, 1570) was an English artist whose few known paintings date from between about 1543 and 1550. His most famous work is his Portrait of a Man in a Black Cap. His son, John Bettes the Younger (with whom he is sometimes confused), was a pupil of Nicholas Hilliard who painted portraits during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. Nothing is known of John Bettes's life, except that he was living in Westminster in 1556, according to a documented court case.