A three-quarter-length portrait to the left, showing Herbert facing slightly right in armour. He is wearing the Little George of the Garter on his belt and carrying a baton in his right hand. A ship flying the Union and Admiralty flags is in the left background. The original version was painted in about 1686 when he was commanding a troop of horse in the Netherlands; it has horses rather than a ship in the background. This copy is one of five made at the beginning of the 18th century.
Thomas Herbert was a politician and government official. Following a spell as ambassador to the Dutch states general, April to October 1689, he was appointed first lord of the Admiralty in January 1690, becoming lord privy seal two years later. He was lord high admiral from March 1701 to January 1702, being replaced by Prince George upon the accession of Queen Anne. He returned to the post when George died in November 1708, holding it for a year. He was the last commoner to do so.