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Lot Essay
This elegant portrait probably depicts James, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton, a close friend and advisor to James VI and I, whom he accompanied from Scotland to London on his ascension to the English throne in 1603. Hamilton had inherited his title on the death of his father in 1604, and in 1609 had also come into the title of the Earl of Arran after the death of his mad, childless uncle, another James Hamilton. It is possible that this painting was executed to celebrate his elevation to the earldom. Prior to leaving for London, James had married Lady Anne Cunningham, daughter of the 7th Earl of Glencairn. His wife did not accompany him south, instead she chose to remain in Scotland to manage the Hamilton estates and raise their five children.
The symbolism of James’ costume here does not suggest that he was heart-broken by this separation from his wife. The flaming hearts proclaim him to be a passionate lover, and the pansies equally symbolise ‘think of me’ (the name of this delicate flower originates in the French pensée, or ‘thought’). These delicate flowers, also known at this date as ‘heartsease’, or ‘love-in-idleness’ were often employed in cloth patterns for clothing to underline the wearer’s amorous intent. Folklore even told that purple of the pansy petals came from the touch of Cupid’s arrow; as Shakespeare has Oberon explain in A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
‘Yet mark’d I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love’s wound:
And maidens call it ‘love-in-idleness’. […]
The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid,
Will make man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.’
This idea of Hamilton as a raffish lover is borne out by his reputation as a collector of Italian paintings and an elegant dancer much in demand at Court masques. As one of the handsome favourites, he received further titles in the following decade, becoming Earl of Cambridge and Baron of Innerdale in 1619 and Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland in 1621, though sadly, he died just four years later. A portrait of Hamilton executed in 1622 by the court painter Daniel Mytens shows a more soberly dressed gentleman, holding his hat and the white staff of the Lord Steward of the Household (Royal Collection, London, RCIN 402897).
We are grateful to Karen Hearn for her thoughts on this painting following first-hand examination.
The symbolism of James’ costume here does not suggest that he was heart-broken by this separation from his wife. The flaming hearts proclaim him to be a passionate lover, and the pansies equally symbolise ‘think of me’ (the name of this delicate flower originates in the French pensée, or ‘thought’). These delicate flowers, also known at this date as ‘heartsease’, or ‘love-in-idleness’ were often employed in cloth patterns for clothing to underline the wearer’s amorous intent. Folklore even told that purple of the pansy petals came from the touch of Cupid’s arrow; as Shakespeare has Oberon explain in A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
‘Yet mark’d I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love’s wound:
And maidens call it ‘love-in-idleness’. […]
The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid,
Will make man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.’
This idea of Hamilton as a raffish lover is borne out by his reputation as a collector of Italian paintings and an elegant dancer much in demand at Court masques. As one of the handsome favourites, he received further titles in the following decade, becoming Earl of Cambridge and Baron of Innerdale in 1619 and Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland in 1621, though sadly, he died just four years later. A portrait of Hamilton executed in 1622 by the court painter Daniel Mytens shows a more soberly dressed gentleman, holding his hat and the white staff of the Lord Steward of the Household (Royal Collection, London, RCIN 402897).
We are grateful to Karen Hearn for her thoughts on this painting following first-hand examination.