Lot Essay
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628), was the younger son by a second marriage of Sir George Villiers of Brokesby in Leicestershire. He was sent to France by his mother to master the courtly accomplishments of riding, dancing and duelling and on his return met King James I at Apethorpe in 1614 who was immediately attracted to the handsome young man. The King showered him with titles and estates: in 1615, he was appointed Gentleman of the Bedchamber, Master of the Horse and Viscount in 1616, Earl in 1617 and Master of the Wardrobe in 1617. Buckingham was granted York House which he altered at vast expense and he built up a spectacular collection of pictures on the advice of Balthasar Gerbier. The Duke had a special love for Venetian painting of the sixteenth century and he helped form the tastes of Prince Charles. In 1621, Gerbier sent over to Buckingham from Venice a consignment which included Titian's Ecce Homo and when in Spain in 1623, he bought Giovanni da Bologna's Samson and the Philistines, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Rubens was another favourite painter of the Duke and on 9 August 1629, Rubens wrote to Peirsca 'when it comes to fine pictures by the hands of first-class masters, I have never seen such a large number in one place as in the royal palace and in the gallery of the late Duke of Buckingham' (R. S. Magurn, The Letters of Peter Paul Rubens, Cambridge, Mass., 1955, p. 322).
With these honours to the King's favourite came political authority and by the age of twenty-six Villiers had become the principal figure in the land. He travelled with Prince Charles to Madrid to negotiate the marriage to the Infanta and when this failed, the Duke urged James into war with Spain. On the death of James I, the Duke's position as favourite was secure with the new King but his fall from grace was rapid. His endless attempts at personal gain eventually led to the loss of good relations between the English Court and that of Spain and France and also at home between the Crown and Parliament.
The wars with Spain led to two disasters and Parliament was dissolved when it showed signs of attacking Buckingham. Charles marriage to Henrietta Maria led to the employment of English seamen against the Protestant strong hold of La Rochelle and which eventually lead to war with France in 1627. The Duke led an expedition to the Isle de Rhé to relieve the Huguenots but returned to Portsmouth with only half his men. Another expedition under the Earl of Denbigh also failed and when Buckingham went to Portsmouth to prepare a third expedition in August, he was assassinated by John Felton who had taken part in Buckingham's two unsuccessful expeditions to Cadiz and the Isle of Rhé.
This recently discovered and therefore unrecorded enamel miniature is an outstanding addition to a group of only eight miniatures constituting Petitot's early works of his English period, including two other versions of the present portrait, one at Welbeck Abbey and the other in the Collection of the Duke of Devonshire.
Dr. Hans Boeckh, Geneva, characterises these extremely rare early enamels by their thick, nearly flat gold plaque, the cobalt-blue counter-enamel and the cobalt-blue band surrounding the border of the obverse of the portrait. For more information, see H. Boeckh, 'En fläkt av Whitehall', in M. Olausson, Europeiskt Miniatyrmaleri, Stockholm, 1994, pp. 26-45.
We are indebted to Dr. Hans Boeckh, Geneva, for his kind assistance in the preparation of this catalogue notice.
With these honours to the King's favourite came political authority and by the age of twenty-six Villiers had become the principal figure in the land. He travelled with Prince Charles to Madrid to negotiate the marriage to the Infanta and when this failed, the Duke urged James into war with Spain. On the death of James I, the Duke's position as favourite was secure with the new King but his fall from grace was rapid. His endless attempts at personal gain eventually led to the loss of good relations between the English Court and that of Spain and France and also at home between the Crown and Parliament.
The wars with Spain led to two disasters and Parliament was dissolved when it showed signs of attacking Buckingham. Charles marriage to Henrietta Maria led to the employment of English seamen against the Protestant strong hold of La Rochelle and which eventually lead to war with France in 1627. The Duke led an expedition to the Isle de Rhé to relieve the Huguenots but returned to Portsmouth with only half his men. Another expedition under the Earl of Denbigh also failed and when Buckingham went to Portsmouth to prepare a third expedition in August, he was assassinated by John Felton who had taken part in Buckingham's two unsuccessful expeditions to Cadiz and the Isle of Rhé.
This recently discovered and therefore unrecorded enamel miniature is an outstanding addition to a group of only eight miniatures constituting Petitot's early works of his English period, including two other versions of the present portrait, one at Welbeck Abbey and the other in the Collection of the Duke of Devonshire.
Dr. Hans Boeckh, Geneva, characterises these extremely rare early enamels by their thick, nearly flat gold plaque, the cobalt-blue counter-enamel and the cobalt-blue band surrounding the border of the obverse of the portrait. For more information, see H. Boeckh, 'En fläkt av Whitehall', in M. Olausson, Europeiskt Miniatyrmaleri, Stockholm, 1994, pp. 26-45.
We are indebted to Dr. Hans Boeckh, Geneva, for his kind assistance in the preparation of this catalogue notice.