Lot Essay
This, together with lot 28, is one of the distinguished collection of pictures that entered the Wentworth collection through the marriage of William, 2nd Earl of Strafford to Lady Henriette Stanley, daughter of James, 7th Earl of Derby and his wife, Charlotte de la Trémouille. This collection included works by van Dyck and Lely.
The sitters were both members of the Princely House of Orange. Amalia van Solms-Braunfels (1602-1675) was the daughter of John Albert I, Count of Solms-Braunfels. She married, in 1625, Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces (1584-1647), a son of William the Silent. Their son, William II, married Princess Mary, daughter of King Charles I of England, and their son was William III, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder and later King of England (1650-1702).
Charlotte de la Trémouille (1599-1664) was the eldest daughter of Claude de la Trémouille, Duc de Thouars, by his wife, Charlotte (1580-1626), daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange (1533-1584). She was therefore the cousin by marriage of Amalia van Solms. Her mother came to England in 1625 in the train of King Charles' queen, Henrietta Maria, and during the visit arranged a marriage between Charlotte and James Stanley, Lord Strange, subsequently 7th Earl of Derby (1607-1651). Charlotte was staying at The Hague at the time, and it was there that the marriage occurred, in 1626, the year after the marriage between Amalia van Solms and Frederik Hendrik.
Following her marriage, Lady Strange lived at the Stanley houses of Knowsley and Lathom for the next sixteen years. However the outbreak of the Civil War heralded a tempestuous future for the couple, and revealed Lady Derby to be one of the most extraordinary and indomitable characters of the age. Lathom House was situated in Lancashire, a county that declared largely for the Parliamentarians, and by the middle of 1643 Lathom stood virtually alone for the Royalist cause there. In 1644 it was besieged by Sir William Fairfax, and Lady Derby, with a garrison of three hundred men under her command, held out against the enemy. In the face of attempts by the Parliamentarians to parley their way to victory, Lady Derby declared that she and her children would fire the castle and perish in the flames rather than yield. Her spirited defence kept the besiegers at bay for months until the arrival of a relieving force under Lord Derby and Prince Rupert of the Rhine. The Earl and Countess removed to the Isle of Man, of which the Earls of Derby were hereditary sovereign lords, and Lady Derby remained there until after her husband's death in 1651, when she went to Knowsley, remaining there for most of the rest of her life. A set of embroidered bed curtains made by Lady Derby during the siege passed through her daughter, Amelia, who married the 1st Marquis of Atholl, to the possession of the Dukes of Atholl, and remains at Blair Castle with several portraits of members of the families of the Princes of Orange and the Earls of Derby, including works by Honthorst. The heroic actions of Lady Derby were subsequently recorded in numerous tales, including most significantly Sir Walter Scott's Peveril of the Peak.
By 1627, Honthorst had achieved a position of some eminence in the United Provinces; he had been Dean of Saint Luke's Guild, and received Rembrandt on his ambassadorial mission to the Provinces in that year. Based in Utrecht, his paintings were in demand from Prince Frederik Hendrik and the following year he travelled to England at the request of King Charles I. There he painted the allegorical Apollo and Diana for the Banqueting House in Whitehall. including the figures of the King and Queen, as well as of Lucy Percy, Countess of Carlisle. This picture is a version of the one sold anonymously in these Rooms, 18 May 1951, lot 130, signed and dated 1633. It is possible that a likeness of Charlotte de la Trémouille was made during Honthorst's stay in England in 1628, and subsequently used for these portraits, of which the Princess of Orange retained the prime version, whilst Lady Stanley received the present picture.
The sitters were both members of the Princely House of Orange. Amalia van Solms-Braunfels (1602-1675) was the daughter of John Albert I, Count of Solms-Braunfels. She married, in 1625, Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces (1584-1647), a son of William the Silent. Their son, William II, married Princess Mary, daughter of King Charles I of England, and their son was William III, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder and later King of England (1650-1702).
Charlotte de la Trémouille (1599-1664) was the eldest daughter of Claude de la Trémouille, Duc de Thouars, by his wife, Charlotte (1580-1626), daughter of William the Silent, Prince of Orange (1533-1584). She was therefore the cousin by marriage of Amalia van Solms. Her mother came to England in 1625 in the train of King Charles' queen, Henrietta Maria, and during the visit arranged a marriage between Charlotte and James Stanley, Lord Strange, subsequently 7th Earl of Derby (1607-1651). Charlotte was staying at The Hague at the time, and it was there that the marriage occurred, in 1626, the year after the marriage between Amalia van Solms and Frederik Hendrik.
Following her marriage, Lady Strange lived at the Stanley houses of Knowsley and Lathom for the next sixteen years. However the outbreak of the Civil War heralded a tempestuous future for the couple, and revealed Lady Derby to be one of the most extraordinary and indomitable characters of the age. Lathom House was situated in Lancashire, a county that declared largely for the Parliamentarians, and by the middle of 1643 Lathom stood virtually alone for the Royalist cause there. In 1644 it was besieged by Sir William Fairfax, and Lady Derby, with a garrison of three hundred men under her command, held out against the enemy. In the face of attempts by the Parliamentarians to parley their way to victory, Lady Derby declared that she and her children would fire the castle and perish in the flames rather than yield. Her spirited defence kept the besiegers at bay for months until the arrival of a relieving force under Lord Derby and Prince Rupert of the Rhine. The Earl and Countess removed to the Isle of Man, of which the Earls of Derby were hereditary sovereign lords, and Lady Derby remained there until after her husband's death in 1651, when she went to Knowsley, remaining there for most of the rest of her life. A set of embroidered bed curtains made by Lady Derby during the siege passed through her daughter, Amelia, who married the 1st Marquis of Atholl, to the possession of the Dukes of Atholl, and remains at Blair Castle with several portraits of members of the families of the Princes of Orange and the Earls of Derby, including works by Honthorst. The heroic actions of Lady Derby were subsequently recorded in numerous tales, including most significantly Sir Walter Scott's Peveril of the Peak.
By 1627, Honthorst had achieved a position of some eminence in the United Provinces; he had been Dean of Saint Luke's Guild, and received Rembrandt on his ambassadorial mission to the Provinces in that year. Based in Utrecht, his paintings were in demand from Prince Frederik Hendrik and the following year he travelled to England at the request of King Charles I. There he painted the allegorical Apollo and Diana for the Banqueting House in Whitehall. including the figures of the King and Queen, as well as of Lucy Percy, Countess of Carlisle. This picture is a version of the one sold anonymously in these Rooms, 18 May 1951, lot 130, signed and dated 1633. It is possible that a likeness of Charlotte de la Trémouille was made during Honthorst's stay in England in 1628, and subsequently used for these portraits, of which the Princess of Orange retained the prime version, whilst Lady Stanley received the present picture.