Circle of Paul Van Somer (1615-1685)

Portrait of King James I, full-length, in a dark coat and breeches with a lace ruff wearing the gorget of a suit of Greenwich armour, the suit of armour, bearing the initials IR, piled on the floor beside him, holding the badge of the Garter in his right hand, his left hand resting on a table on which are the crown, sceptre and orb, in an interior

Details

Circle of Paul Van Somer (1615-1685)
Portrait of King James I, full-length, in a dark coat and breeches with a lace ruff wearing the gorget of a suit of Greenwich armour, the suit of armour, bearing the initials IR, piled on the floor beside him, holding the badge of the Garter in his right hand, his left hand resting on a table on which are the crown, sceptre and orb, in an interior
inscribed 'IACOBVS DG MAGNAE BRITTANIAE/FRANCIAE ET HIBERNIAE REX/FIDEI DEFENSOR 1618', (upper right)
oil on canvas
82½ x 57 in. (209.5 x 145 cm.)

Provenance

Possibly painted for King James I's daughter, Elizabeth, Electress Palatine, and by tradition bequeathed by her to William, 1st Earl of Craven and by descent to
Cornelia, Countess of Craven(+); Sothebys, 27 November 1968, lot 123.

Literature

Dr. G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain, London 1854, III, p. 219.
Catalogue of Pictures at Combe Abbey, 1866, no. 230.
O. Millar, The Tudor, Stuart and early Georgian Pictures in the Royal Collection, London, I, 1963, p.81.
R. Strong, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, I, London, 1969, p. 179.
A.W. Ward, The Electress Sofia, 1903, illus. opposite p. 4.

Exhibited

London, National Portrait Gallery, 1866.

Lot Essay

This picture is a version of the full-length portrait in the Royal Collection which would also appear to be dated 1618 (see O. Millar, op. cit., p. 81). There are other full-length versions of this type, with varying dress, at Drumlanrig, Knole and Euston Hall.

William, 1st Earl of Craven, was one of Elizabeth, Electress Palatine's most loyal supporters and benefactors in her efforts to return to the Palatinate from which she and her husband, Elector Frederick V, were exiled by Emperor Ferdinand II.

More from British Pictures

View All