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King Edward VI (1537-1553) C1670-1700 Historically Important Oil On Oak Panel

1670-1700

Studio of William Scrots Portrait of Edward VI when Prince of Wales 16th Century Oil on oak panel, unsigned Image size: 11 ½ x 11 ½ inches (29.3 x 29.3 cm) Early hand-carved gilt frame Provenance: The Hunter Blair collection, Blairquhan, Scotland By descent Christie’s London, 24th May 2007, lot 39 Mould Gallery Private Collection This striking portrait depicts Edward VI in the regalia of the Prince of Wales, shortly before he was to become the King of England. The Roman numerals on the painting indicate a creation year of 1546, meaning that Edward was only nine when this likeness was captured. It is believed that this work is a copy of a portrait held by the Met Museum of New York, completed by the Flemish portraitist William Scrots, who worked extensively with Henry VIII as the King’s Painter. Henry VIII had utilised the side-profile perspective as an artistic motif to assert the power of his Tudor dynasty. The perspective became associated with royalty, and its application in this portrait affirms Edward’s succession and future role as the English monarch. Portraits were an important way in which those in the 16th century captured likenesses of important public figures, such as the crown prince - for this reason, Edward VI is one of the most well documented Tudor monarchs, with multiple portraits capturing his childhood. This current work is exquisitely detailed, with great care taken to depict Edward’s lavish clothing. It is possible to make out the most minute of details, from the acorns on his collar to the individual barbs of the feathers on his cap. The gold chains fixing his jacket in place and the metallic aglets on his cap are also remarkable, indicating the absolute wealth and power of the Tudor dynasty. This portrait recently underwent dendrochronological analysis, which revealed that the work was painted during Edward’s lifetime. It was later altered to fit the diamond format that we see currently, which is also likely when the ‘ich dien’ (the motto of the Prince of Wales, meaning ‘I serve’) was added. King Edward VI On the 12th of October 1537, Jane Seymour gave birth to Henry VIII’s only son, who would be named Edward. As a celebration of this new heir to the throne, two thousands rounds of ammunition were shot from the Tower of London, and parties and festivities occurred all across England. Edward was baptised three days after his birth by Thomas Cranmer in a lavish ceremony before retiring to the Queen’s apartments to receive parental blessings. In a sad turn of events, Jane Seymour never recovered from the birth of her son, dying only 12 days after giving birth. Increasingly paranoid about Edward’s wellbeing as his only male heir, Henry VII ordered that he would remain at Hampton Court Palace. Edward was afforded a luxurious suite, but was initially kept in the presence chamber in a ‘cradle of state’ so that nobles and courtiers could visit the young prince. After this, Edward lived in his own bedchamber and was served by his own kitchen to avoid contamination. Once weaned, his food was tested by a servant to ensure it was safe for the prince to consume. Edward’s clothes were washed before he wore them, everything he touched had to be cleaned before he could do so, and the walls, floors and ceilings of his suite had to be scrubbed clean multiple times a day. Any visitors were forced to wash before seeing the prince, and they could not attend the chambers if they had even the smallest sign of sickness. Edward was raised by the women of the court and was known as a healthy, handsome, tall and well-fed young boy. He was shy and looked to his nurses for reassurance, and it is documented that even the most stern of nursemaids doted upon him. His elder half-sister Mary visited him regularly and showered him with lavish gifts - this makes their later divide over religion all the more heartbreaking. He was educated alongside his sister, Elizabeth, to whom he was the closest in age. Edward saw little of his father until he became an ‘adult’ at the age of six. From this point on, Edward was expected to play the heir to the throne. His female attendants were dismissed and his education became that of a prince. His suite and wardrobe were redesigned to match Henry VIII’s own. His schoolmasters noted him for his maturity, but also for his fierce temper. Edward studied humanist subjects such as classics, Latin, Greek and rhetoric, as well as gentlemanly pursuits of fencing, riding, and music. He was also educated in religion and scripture by the Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who became somewhat of a father figure for the prince. In 1547, when Edward was nine years old, Henry VII died - his young son was crowned as King only a month later. Due to his young age, Edward was supported by a regency council, but this was quickly overpowered by the King’s uncle, Edward Seymour, who seized control as Lord Protector. Edward kept a diary during this period, whose writings characterise him as a cold and unfeeling young boy - these qualities may well have become disastrous for a monarch if he had survived. Edward is most renowned for his Protestant reforms. He introduced a new Book of Common Prayer in 1549, and again in 1552. This second Book provided the basis for worship within the Church of England for the next four hundred years. He also banned Catholic rituals such as casting of holy water, pilgrimages, and using rosaries...

Oil on original canvas Image size: 78 1/4 x 44 inches (199 x 112 cm) Contemporary style frame Provenance Sir Rowland Cotton, 1608 Family Descent Private Collection Sir Rowland Cot...

Young King Edward VI Portrait Engraving, Tudor Royal, Holbein, c.1740 This elegant 18th-century copperplate engraving presents a refined portrait of King Edward VI of England (reign...

Portrait Hercule-François, Duke of Alençon and of Anjou (1555–1584), 16th Century School of FRANCOIS CLOUET (1510-1572) 16th Century French court portrait of Hercules-Francois, Duk...

Giusto (or Justus) Sustermans (Antwerp, 1597 – Florence, 1681) Workshop of Portrait of Ferdinando II de' Medici (1610–1670), Grand Duke of Tuscany Oil on canvas 133 x 97 cm Fram...

An original antique engraved portrait from Harrington's edition of "Rapin's History of England." The text identifies the subject as Edward the VI, King of England, France, and Ireland. The engraving is again by Goldar, indicating John Goldar's work, and it was published as the act directs on July 22nd, 1784. Edward VI was the son of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. Born on October 12...

Portrait Of Gilbert Talbot 7th Earl of Shrewsbury (1552-1616), 16th Century Circle of George Gower (c.1540–1596) Huge 16th Century Portrait Of Gilbert Talbot 7th Earl of Shrewsbury...

Attributed to Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo (Castile 1611 - Madrid 1667) pupil and collaborator of Diego Velázquez Portrait of Charles II, King of Spain, as a child (1661 -1700) Spain, c. 1670 Oil on canvas 68 x 49 cm. - In antique frame 96 x 75 cm. The analysis of this portrait, and in particular the style with which its features have been outlined, brings us back to the great tradition of the 17th century Spanish school. The portrait depicts the young King Charles II of Spain, dressed in typical Spanish fashion, the youngest and only son of Philip IV of Spain and his second wife Maria Anna of Austria, as well as the last of the Habsburg dynasty to rule Spain. which portrayed the young ruler in full length at the age of four (dated 1665), dressed in a black suit and cape, and a large feathered...

English School, (circa 1600) Portrait of William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke Oil on panel, oval Image size: 29¼ x 23⅞ inches Painted wooden frame Provenance: 176, Collection of Francis Greville, 1st Earl of Warwick. The Trustees of the Lord Brooks’ Settlement, (removed from Warwick Castle). Sotheby’s, London, 22nd March 1968, lot 81. Painted onto wooden panel, this portrait shows a dark haired gentleman in profile sporting an open white shirt. On top of this garments is a richly detailed black cloak, decorated with gold thread and lined with a sumptuous crimson lining. With the red silk inside it’s all very expensive and would fall under sumptuary laws – so this is a nobleman of high degree. It’s melancholic air conforms to the contemporary popularity of this very human condition, evident in fashionable poetry and music of the period. In comparison to our own modern prejudices, melancholy was associated with creativity in this period. This portrait appeared in the earliest described list of pictures of Warwick castle dating to 1762. Compiled by collector and antiquary Sir William Musgrave ‘taken from the information of Lord & Lady Warwick’ (Add. MSS, 5726 fol. 3) is described; ‘8. Earl of Essex – an original by Zuccharo – seen in profile with black hair. Holding a black robe across his breast with his right hand.’ As tempting as it is to imagine that this is a portrait of Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl Essex, we might take this with a pinch of salt. Its identification with this romantic and fatal Elizabethan might well have been an attempt to add romance to Warwick Castle’s walls. It doesn’t correspond all that well with Essex’s portraits around 1600 after his return from Cadiz. Notably, this picture was presumably hung not too far away from the castle’s two portraits of Queen Elizabeth I. The first, and undoubtedly the best, being the exquisite coronation portrait that was sold by Lord Brooke in the late 1970s and now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. The second, described as being ‘a copy from the original at Ld Hydes’, has yet to resurface. The portrait eventually ended up being hung in the State Bedroom of Warwick Castle. Archival documents present one other interesting candidate. The Greville family’s earliest inventory of paintings, made in 1630 at their home Brooke House in Holborn, London, describes five portraits of identified figures. All five belonged to the courtier, politician and poet Sir Fulke Greville (1554-1628), 1st Baron Brooke, and were hung in the ‘Gallerie’ of Brooke House behind yellow curtains. One of them was described as being of ‘Lord of Pembrooke’, which is likely to have been William Herbert (1580-1630), 3rd Earl of Pembroke. William was the eldest son of Greville’s best friend’s sister Mary Sidney, and was brought up in the particularly literary and poetically orientated household which his mother had supported. Notably, the 3rd Earl was one of the figures that Shakespeare’s first folio was dedicated to in 1623. The melancholic air to the portrait corresponds to William’s own pretensions as a learned and poetic figure. The richness of the robe in the painting, sporting golden thread and a spotted black fabric, is indicative of wealth beyond that of a simple poet or actor. The portrait’s dating to around the year 1600 might have coincided with William’s father death and his own rise to the Pembroke Earldom. This period of his life too was imbued with personal sadness, as an illicit affair with a Mary Fitton had resulted in a pregnancy and eventual banishment by Elizabeth I to Wilton after a short spell in Fleet Prison. His illegitimate son died shortly after being born. Despite being a close follower of the Earl of Essex, William had side-stepped supporting Devereux in the fatal uprising against the Queen and eventually regained favour at the court of the next monarch James I. His linen shirt is edged with a delicate border of lace and his black cloak is lined on the inside with sumptuous scarlet and richly decorated on the outside with gold braid and a pattern of embroidered black spots. Despite the richness of his clothes, William Herbert has been presented in a dishevelled state of semi-undress, his shirt unlaced far down his chest with the ties lying limply over his hand, indicating that he is in a state of distracted detachment. It has been suggested that the fashion for melancholy was rooted in an increase in self-consciousness and introspective reflection during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In contemporary literature melancholy was said to be caused by a plenitude of the melancholy humor, one of the four vital humors, which were thought to regulate the functions of the body. An abundance of the melancholia humor was associated with a heightened creativity and intellectual ability and hence melancholy was linked to the notion of genius, as reflected in the work of the Oxford scholar Robert Burton, who in his work ‘The Anatomy of Melancholy’, described the Malcontent as ‘of all others [the]… most witty, [who] causeth many times divine ravishment, and a kind of enthusiamus… which stirreth them up to be excellent Philosophers, Poets and Prophets.’ (R. Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, London, 1621 in R. Strong, ‘Elizabethan Malady: Melancholy in Elizabethan and Jacobean Portraits’, Apollo, LXXIX, 1964). Melancholy was viewed as a highly fashionable affliction under Elizabeth I, and her successor James I, and a dejected demeanour was adopted by wealthy young men, often presenting themselves as scholars or despondent lovers, as reflected in the portraiture and literature from this period. Although the sitter in this portrait is, as yet, unidentified, it seems probable that he was a nobleman with literary or artistic ambitions, following in the same vain as such famous figures as the aristocratic poet and dramatist, Edward de Vere...

Antique Flemish Baroque painting, 17th century, portrait, Medici. Oil on canvas. The painting is probably attributed to the Flemish painter Justus Sustermns. Pictured is most likel...