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Lot Essay
Johannes Vorsterman, who had studied under Hermann Saftleven in Utrecht, came to England in the reign of King Charles II (c.1672), where his talent for topographical views was soon recognised.
This pair of views would appear to date from c.1678-80. An almost identical pair, which Vorstermann is presumed to have painted for King Charles II, is in the Royal collection (O. Millar, The Tudor, Stuart, and Early Georgian Pictures in the Collection of her Majesty the Queen, London, 1963, I, nos. 418 and 419, II, the former illustrated pl. 138).
The view from the North shows the new Star Building and the other new range of buildings, behind and to the east of it, which King Charles II had entrusted to the architect Hugh May in 1673. The rebuilding and redecoration of this side of the castle seems to have been finished circa 1676-7, which helps to date the pictures. However, the topography of the present views is not strictly accurate. This is particularly true of the way in which the Thames flows and in the position of the bridge in the North view.
A copy of the view from the South, by Jan Griffier, with slight variations in the foreground, signed and dated 1681, is also in the Royal Collection (O. Millar, op.cit., no. 420; illustrated in E. Waterhouse, Dictionary of British 18th Century Painters, Woodbridge, 1981, p. 151). Later derivations of the compositions are recorded at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, and a later copy of the view from the South, with some variations, at Audley End.
This pair of views would appear to date from c.1678-80. An almost identical pair, which Vorstermann is presumed to have painted for King Charles II, is in the Royal collection (O. Millar, The Tudor, Stuart, and Early Georgian Pictures in the Collection of her Majesty the Queen, London, 1963, I, nos. 418 and 419, II, the former illustrated pl. 138).
The view from the North shows the new Star Building and the other new range of buildings, behind and to the east of it, which King Charles II had entrusted to the architect Hugh May in 1673. The rebuilding and redecoration of this side of the castle seems to have been finished circa 1676-7, which helps to date the pictures. However, the topography of the present views is not strictly accurate. This is particularly true of the way in which the Thames flows and in the position of the bridge in the North view.
A copy of the view from the South, by Jan Griffier, with slight variations in the foreground, signed and dated 1681, is also in the Royal Collection (O. Millar, op.cit., no. 420; illustrated in E. Waterhouse, Dictionary of British 18th Century Painters, Woodbridge, 1981, p. 151). Later derivations of the compositions are recorded at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, and a later copy of the view from the South, with some variations, at Audley End.