Portrait of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, (1592-1628), bust length, wearing a black costume adorned with pearls and a white lace collar

Buckingham was a statesman who exerted a strong influence during the reigns of James I and Charles I. Introduced to James I in 1614, Buckingham became Master of the Horse in 1616, Earl of Buckingham in 1617, Lord High Admiral in 1619, and a Duke in 1624. After a series of disasters brought about by his poor leadership, a bill to impeach him was introduced to Parliament in 1626. He was saved by the then King Charles I and the charges were dismissed, although the Parliament of 1628 again tried to force his dismissal. Though Charles managed to block the dismissal, on August 23, 1628, Buckingham was stabbed to death.

Another portrait of the Duke of Buckingham by Janssens is in the Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, England; and a second portrait is recorded as being in the collection of the Earls of Clarendon, Pitt House, Hampstead, England. For a discussion of the various portraits of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, see C.R. Cammell, George Villers, First Duke of Buckingham: Portraits of a Great Connoisseur, The Connoisseur, 1936, 98, no. 421, pp. 127-132. Cammell there mentions a portrait of Buckingham attributed to Michiel van Mierevelt in the Brera, Milan (ibid., p. 130, pl. VI) and another version at Osterley Park, of which the present painting is an almost exact replica. He further notes that an engraving of the above by C. Turner in 1810 is inscribed 'From an original picture by C. Janssen late in the possession of General Stibbert.'