However, under the influence of Dutch and German painters active in London and elsewhere, this approach was starting to change. Souch himself may have undertaken artistic training in the Netherlands at some stage in his career, and some art historians claim to have detected the influence of Cornelis Jonson van Ceulen. In any case, his natural talent and sympathy for the subject seems to place him apart from other itinerant painters. Nevertheless, after the arrival of Anthony van Dyck in England, Souch clung to an older, Elizabethan, tradition of painting. Paintings Few authenticated works survive, though several are attributed to him. A portrait of George Puleston of Emral Park, near Wrexham, may be found in the Tate Gallery, London. There is a fine betrothal or wedding portrait, 'Unknown Lady and Gentleman', and signed 'J.S. Fec.1640' at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester. (In this picture, the lady holds a tulip, a motif redolent of Dutch folk art, perhaps suggesting a visit to the Netherlands by the artist.) Souch's masterpiece is undoubtedly 'Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of his Wife', a painting of Sir Thomas Aston, 1st Baronet and family attending his dying wife. It has pride of place in one of the galleries of Manchester City Art Gallery. Later life Souch continued his association with the Chester Guild, which records him as 'mort' (dead) in 1645. It is possible that Souch, like Randle Holme, his master, was a royalist supporter, and had died in Chester as a consequence of the siege by the parliamentary army. References Literature Turner J. (Editor). (2003). The Grove Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press. Treuherz J. (1997), New light on John Souch of Chester, Burlington Magazine, May, pp.300-305. External links Image and overview of Souch's painting: Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of his Wife. People from Ormskirk 17th-century English painters English male painters 1645 deaths Year of birth uncertain 1590s births