The sitter wears a leather coat and breastplate, with a red sash over his right shoulder. The coat sleeves are elaborately gold-frogged and open from the shoulder to show voluminous shirt sleeves. A close helmet and a steel gauntlet are on the left and the background is a rocky coast.

Chichley entered the navy as a volunteer in the Mediterranean in 1661. In 1662 he became a lieutenant in the ‘Swiftsure’, and then rose to command the ‘Milford’, ‘Bristol’ and ‘Phoenix’ in 1663–64. He commanded the ‘Antelope’ at the Battle of Lowestoft, and for his part he was knighted. Commanding the ‘Fairfax’ at the Four Days Battle he earned the praise of the joint admirals Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle in 1666. At the Battle of Solebay, 1672, his ship, the ‘Royal Katherine’, was captured by the Dutch, but soon retaken. At the Battle of the Texel, 1673, he was Rear-Admiral of the Red Squadron in the ‘Charles’. He served as a commissioner of the Admiralty 1682–84, and again in 1689, but William III’s dislike of him lead to his departure in 1690.

Although the portrait seems to have some similarities with a mezzotint of Chichley after Lely (PAD4710) it is more likely to be by Jacob Huysmans. Huysmans (circa 1630–1696) was probably born in Antwerp where he studied under Frans Woutters in 1649–50. He moved to England soon after the Restoration and had settled in London by 1662. By 1664, the approximate date of this portrait, he was considered to rival Lely, and Samuel Pepys considered him better. His popularity at court may have been attributed to his Catholicism, and he was particularly patronized by Catherine of Braganza.