The Company is proudly displaying a new portrait at the western entrance of the Hall. The Court commissioned the portrait on the completion of the first lady Master, Mrs. Jane Hall's, Mastership 2020/21. 

Mrs Hall said of the portrait, "I was given the honour by Court of having my portrait painted as the First Lady Master of the Company. I wanted to find a portrait artist who was also a woman, someone who was talented but not necessarily traditionally trained and someone who had not totally made their mark in their field as yet. I was given various names of artists to meet and I chose Ruth Fitton. She is a musician by training and a self-taught portrait painter, I met Ruth through the Fine Art Commissions, London, which represents her."

"Having never had my portrait painted before I was unsure what to expect regarding ‘sittings’. Ruth could not have made it easier, a long day in the Hall discussing where to be painted and the composition, we decided on the Parlour in front of the beautiful convex mirror that I had restored for the Company a few years ago. As we were coming out of COVID, I requested a plague mask to be placed by my feet for reference to what we had all been through in the last few months. Ruth then painted an A4 picture for position and colour, taking many photographs of the position of my head, hands and feet. She then went back to her studio in the north of England to transfer her work to a larger piece of paper before transferring it all onto the canvas."

"The dress I am wearing was made by Jorden Barrett who is a tailor and a Liveryman of Merchant Taylors’ Company."

The artist, Ruth Fitton said, "The painting of Mrs. Jane Hall is one of the most interesting portraits I have completed to date. Not only did she set me the challenge of creating a portrait that was “authoritative yet soft”, but there were also the additional complexities of a beautiful and highly ornate gilded mirror (restored by Mrs. Hall some years ago), the robes, and the Master’s medallion."

"When I visited the Hall, I was struck by the centuries of Merchant Taylors' references incorporated into the building. Mrs. Hall posed for me in front of the mirror in the Parlour, and I noticed the way the plasterwork and Merchant Taylors' crests adorning the Parlour ceiling are matched exactly by the design in the carpet. Thanks to the inclusion of the mirror in the composition of the portrait, I was able to reference both the carpet in the foreground of the painting and also the ceiling plasterwork – in the mirror’s reflection."

"Working with Mrs. Hall was great fun – it’s always a joy when sitters bring their own original ideas to the project. When Jane told me that she wanted to include a Venetian plague doctor’s mask in the painting as a reference to the pandemic, I was intrigued. In the end, Jane’s vision for this element played out beautifully, and I painted the mask in the shadows, toppled on its side. A representation of a pandemic conquered if you will."

"My favourite element of the painting (from a purely painterly perspective) is the shoe on Jane’s right foot; the shoe itself is barely there, tucked into the shadows, but the splashes of highlight on the buckle bring it to life."