The Trusty Servant is an emblematic figure in a painting at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and the name of the college's alumni magazine. The wall-painting called ''The Trusty Servant'' was painted by John Hoskins in 1579. It was reworked by William Cave in 1809, giving the painting now on display there. It hangs outside the kitchen of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. The American author

Arthur Cleveland Coxe Arthur Cleveland Coxe (May 10, 1818 - July 20, 1896) was the second Episcopal bishop of Western New York. He used Cleveland as his given name and is often referred to as A. Cleveland Coxe. Biography He was the son of the Reverend Samuel Hanso ...

(1818-1896) described "the time-honoured ''

Hircocervus The hircocervus ( la, hircus, "billy goat" + ''cervus'', "stag") or tragelaph ( el, τράγος, , translit=tragos, "billy goat" + έλαφος, ''elaphos'', "stag"), also known as a goat-stag, was a legendary creature imagined to be half-goat, ...

'', or picture of 'the Trusty-servant,' which hangs near the kitchen, and which emblematically sets forth those virtues in domestics, of which we Americans know nothing. It is a figure, part man, part porker, part deer, and part donkey; with a padlock on his mouth, and various other symbols in his hands and about his person, the whole signifying a most valuable character." The painting of ''The Trusty Servant'' had a

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...

function: it is accompanied by

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

verses that associate the servant's various animal parts with distinctive virtues that the students of Winchester College were meant to follow.

Legacy

In 2014 Winchester College commissioned a

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

Old Wykehamist Old Wykehamists are former pupils of Winchester College, so called in memory of the school's founder, William of Wykeham. He was Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of England. He used the wealth these positions gave him to establish both t ...

Anthony Smith to be awarded to staff in recognition of "Long And Loyal Service". The medal features a

relief sculpture Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

of ''The Trusty Servant'' as it appears in the painting. ''The Trusty Servant'' is the name of the Winchester College alumni magazine. There is a Trusty Servant Inn at

Minstead Minstead is a small village and civil parish in the New Forest, Hampshire, about north of Lyndhurst. There is a shop and a pub, the ''Trusty Servant''. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's grave is under a large tree at the back of the 13th century Al ...

in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

. File:Winchester Trusty Servant 2.jpg, 18th century engraving of ''The Trusty Servant'' File:Sign for the Trusty Servant - geograph.org.uk - 1036009 (cropped).jpg,

Inn sign Inn signs have a history that extends beyond the Middle Ages, when many houses were identified by a sign, often a heraldic charge, which signified that the premises were under the special care of a nobleman, or a vivid image that impressed itself ...

at ''The Trusty Servant Inn'',

, Hampshire, painted by P J Oldreive

References

{{Winchester College Fictional hybrid life forms Fantasy creatures Winchester College