William Larkin (1580-1619) - Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke

 

William Larkin (1580-1619)  

Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke c 1615

William Larkin était un peintre anglais actif de 1609 jusqu'à sa mort en 1619, connu pour ses portraits  de membres de la cour de Jacques Ier d'Angleterre qui ont su capturer, avec une foule de détails, la superposition opulente de textiles, broderies, dentelles et bijoux caractéristiques de la mode à l'époque jacobéenne, ainsi que de nombreux beaux exemples de tapis orientaux dans la peinture de la Renaissance.
Une quarantaine de portraits de Larkin ont été identifiés, de courtisans et de gentilshommes, mais il ne semble jamais avoir peint des membres de la famille royale. Une série de neuf portraits en pied de Larkin, anciennement propriété des Earls of Suffolk et maintenant connue sous le nom de Suffolk Collection, est hébergée à Kenwood House, Londres.
Bien que le rôle de Larkin en tant que peintre de portraits soit enregistré dans des documents contemporains, aucune œuvre ne peut lui être attribuée avant 1952, année où  James Lees-Milne  identifia Larkin comme le peintre de deux portraits à l'huile sur cuivre qui était jusque là faussement attribués  à Isaac Oliver.

________________________________________

2020 - Men Portraits
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

William Larkin (1580-1619) - Portrait of Sir William Pope

 

William Larkin (1580-1619) 

Portrait of Sir William Pope

Yale Center for British Art

William Larkin était un peintre anglais actif de 1609 jusqu'à sa mort en 1619, connu pour ses portraits  de membres de la cour de Jacques Ier d'Angleterre qui ont su capturer, avec une foule de détails, la superposition opulente de textiles, broderies, dentelles et bijoux caractéristiques de la mode à l'époque jacobéenne, ainsi que de nombreux beaux exemples de tapis orientaux dans la peinture de la Renaissance.
Une quarantaine de portraits de Larkin ont été identifiés, de courtisans et de gentilshommes, mais il ne semble jamais avoir peint des membres de la famille royale. Une série de neuf portraits en pied de Larkin, anciennement propriété des Earls of Suffolk et maintenant connue sous le nom de Suffolk Collection, est hébergée à Kenwood House, Londres.
Bien que le rôle de Larkin en tant que peintre de portraits soit enregistré dans des documents contemporains, aucune œuvre ne peut lui être attribuée avant 1952, année où  James Lees-Milne  identifia Larkin comme le peintre de deux portraits à l'huile sur cuivre qui était jusque là faussement attribués  à Isaac Oliver.

________________________________________

2020 - Men Portraits
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

Isaac Oliver (1570-1617) Portrait of Sir Philip Sydney

Isaac Oliver (1570-1617) 

Portrait of  Sir Philip Sydney

Denver Art Museum 

Philip Sidney (1554 -1586) est un poète anglais. pPssant pour « le plus accompli des gentilshommes d'Angleterre » aux yeux de ses contemporains, il était le neveu du comte de Leicester, favori de la reine Élisabeth 1ere.  Après des études à Oxford, il fait un long voyage sur le continent, comme il convenait alors à un jeune homme bien né. À son retour la reine lui confie une mission diplomatique auprès de Guillaume d'Orange aux Pays-Bas, mais les faveurs royales cessent en 1580.
En 1585, la reine le rappelle pour lutter contre les Espagnols installés aux Pays-Bas; il est mortellement blessé à la bataille de Zutphen à l'âge de 32 ans.
Giordano Bruno lui dédicaça deux livres, et George Whetstone écrivit son élégie en 1587.

____________________________________________

2019 - Men Portraits 

Un blog de Francis Rousseau

William Larkin (1580-1619) - Portrait of Thomas Pope, 3rd Earl of Downe

William Larkin (1580-1619)

Portrait of Thomas Pope, 3rd Earl of Downe c. 1615 

William Larkin was an English painter active from 1609 until his death in 1619, known for his iconic portraits of members of the court of James I of England which capture in brilliant detail the opulent layering of textiles, embroidery, lace, and jewellery characteristic of fashion in the Jacobean era, as well as representing numerous fine examples of oriental carpets in Renaissance painting.

About 40 portraits by Larkin have been identified, of courtiers and gentry, but he seems never to have painted members of the royal family. A series of nine full-length portraits by Larkin formerly owned by the Earls of Suffolk and now known as the Suffolk Collection is housed in Kenwood House, London.

Although Larkin's role as a portrait painter is recorded in contemporary documents, no surviving works were attributed to him until 1952, when James Lees-Milne identified Larkin as the painter of two portraits in oil on copper at Charlecote Park of Lord Herbert of Cherbury and Sir Thomas Lucy III which had formerly been assumed to be the work of Isaac Oliver. The identification was based on a reference in Herbert's autobiography to a portrait of himself ordered by Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, a "Coppy of a Picture which one Larkin a Painter drew for mee, the Originall whereof I intended ... for Sir Thomas Lucy".

Cleaning revealed portions of inscriptions that Lees-Milne suggested showed that the oval portraits had been cut down from rectangular originals. Other documentary evidence of Larkin's work is found in the Diary of Dorset's wife, Lady Anne Clifford, who sat for Larkin in 1619; in the Rutland Papers for 1617 and 1619; and in a seventeenth-century inventory of paintings at Claydon House including a portrait of Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset.

Isaac Oliver (1570-1617)

Isaac Oliver (1570-1617) 

 Lord Edward Herbert  lying under a tree

Isaac Oliver (1570-1617)

Isaac Oliver (1570-1617) 

 Portrait d'un homme Royal art collection

Isaac Oliver (1570-1617)

Isaac Oliver (1570-1617)

The three Brothers Browne, 1598

 The Burghley collection

Isaac Oliver (1570-1617) - Henry Stuart, Prince of Wales

Isaac Oliver (1570-1617)

Henry Stuart, Prince of Wales (1610-12).

 Other versions

In November 1612, shortly before his nineteenth birthday, Henry, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of James I of England and VI of Scotland, and Anne of Denmark, died of typhoid fever after a short illness. The nation was struck by grief at the loss of this most promising prince who, as King Henry IX, it was believed would become a king to transform Britain.

Unlike his father James, Henry was seen as militaristic, ardently Protestant and fiercely moral; he was also a precocious patron of the arts, collecting paintings, sculpture and books, commissioning ambitious garden designs and architecture, and performing in elaborate court festivities. He took an active interest in the navy and exploration, sponsoring an expedition to find the Northwest Passage and giving his name to new settlements in Virginia.

He was the first British royal to actively collect European renaissance paintings; he acquired the first collection of Italian renaissance bronzes in England, and brought the first collection of antique coins and medals to England; he also assembled the largest and most important library in the land.  His patronage of court masques and festivals, architecture and garden design established his court as a rival to the great princely courts of Europe. Visitors can see examples from these collections as well as exquisite inlaid armour made for Henry and a selection of manuscript letters and writing exercises in Henry’s hand.

Henry’s death inspired an extraordinary stream of poetical and musical tributes, published in nearly 50 contemporary volumes; his lavish funeral procession, including over 2,000 official mourners, was watched by a nation lining the streets, ‘whose streaming eyes made known how much inwardly their harts did bleed.' The exhibition displays, for the first time in two centuries, the remains of Prince Henry’s funeral effigy with an engraving that shows it lying on his hearse, dressed in his clothes.

The exhibition looks at Henry’s upbringing and education, his court and patronage, his collecting, and finally his illness, death and legacy.

Exhibits have been drawn together from public and private collections, including the Royal Collection, the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth House, Parham Park, The British Library, the British Museum, the National Maritime Museum, Trinity College, Cambridge and Dulwich Picture Gallery.

The Lost Prince: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart is curated by Catharine MacLeod, Curator of Seventeenth-Century Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery. She has previously curated Painted Ladies: Women at the Court of Charles II. Catharine is also currently co-writing a catalogue raisonné of the works of Sir Peter Lely.

She says: ‘This exhibition provides a wonderful opportunity to assemble, for the first time since Prince Henry’s death 400 years ago, a group of paintings, drawings and other extraordinary objects, which give us a glimpse into the spectacular and culturally rich life of this exceptional Prince.’

Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, says: ‘Henry, Prince of Wales was the focus of extraordinary developments in the visual arts, architecture, music and literature during the Jacobean period, which led to Britain’s establishment as a cultural player on the world stage. On the 400th anniversary of his death, we are delighted to be able to stage this revelatory exhibition.’

____________________________________________
2016 - Men Portraits 
Un blog de Francis Rousseau