Benjamin Ferrers: A Deaf Visionary Shaping Victorian Portraiture Benjamin Ferrers (1667 – 1732) stands as a singular figure in English art history—a portrait painter distinguished not by his hearing, but by profound deafness. Born into a family steeped in artistic tradition, Ferrers’s condition profoundly shaped his life and career, yet paradoxically fueled an extraordinary talent for observation and representation. His story unfolds against the backdrop of Westminster society during the reign of Charles II and James II, where he navigated social conventions with remarkable grace despite his…