ANECDOTES of PAINTING, &c.
CHAP. I.
Painters and other Artiſts in the Reign of JAMES I.

IT was well for the arts that King James had no diſpoſition to them: He let them take their own courſe. Had he felt any inclination for them, he would probably have introduced as bad a taſte as he did into litterature. A Prince who thought puns and quibbles the per⯑fection of eloquence, would have been charmed with the monkies of Hemſkirk and the drunken boors of Oſtade. James loved his eaſe and his pleaſures and hated novelties. He gave himſelf up to hunting and hunted in the moſt cumbrous and inconvenient of all dreſſes, a ruff and trowſer breeches. The nobility kept up the magnificence they found eſtabliſhed by Queen Elizabeth, in which predominated a want of taſte, rather than a bad one. In more ancient times the man⯑ſions of the great lords, were, as I have mentioned before, built for de⯑fence and ſtrength rather than convenience. The walls thick, the win⯑dows pierced wherever it was moſt neceſſary for them to look abroad, inſtead of being contrived for ſymmetry or to illuminate the chambers. To that ſtyle ſucceeded the richneſs and delicacy of the Gothic. As this declined, before the Grecian taſte was eſtabliſhed, ſpace and vaſt⯑neſs ſeem to have made their whole ideas of grandeur. The palaces [2] erected in the reign of Elizabeth by the memorable Counteſs of Shrewſ⯑bury, Elizabeth of Hardwicke, are exactly in this ſtyle. The apart⯑ments are lofty and enormous, and they knew not how to furniſh them. Pictures, had they had good ones, would be loſt in chambers of ſuch height: Tapeſtry, their chief moveable, was not commonly perfect enough to be real magnificence. Fretted cielings, gracefull mouldings of windows, and painted glaſs, the ornaments of the preceding age, were fallen into diſuſe. Immenſe lights compoſed of bad glaſs in dia⯑mond panes, caſt an air of poverty on their moſt coſtly apartments. That at Hardwicke, ſtill preſerved as it was furniſhed for the reception and empriſonment of the Queen of Scots, is a curious picture of that age and ſtyle. Nothing can exceed the expence in the bed of ſtate, in the hangings of the ſame chamber, and of the coverings for the tables. The firſt is cloth of gold, cloth of ſilver, velvets of different colours, lace, fringes and embroidery. The hangings conſiſt of figures, large as life, repreſenting the virtues and vices, embroidered on grounds of white and black velvet. The cloths to caſt over the tables are embroi⯑dered and emboſſed with gold, on velvets and damaſks, The only moveables of any taſte are the cabinets and tables themſelves, carved in oak. The chimnies are wide enough for a hall or kitchen, and over the arras are freezes of many feet deep with miſerable relievos in ſtucco repreſenting huntings. There and in all the great manſions of that age is a gallery, remarkable only for its extent. That at Hardwicke is of ſixty yards.

James built no palace himſelf. Thoſe erected by the Nobles in his reign are much like what I have been deſcribing. Audley-inn, ^*

[3] one of the wonders of that age, deſerved little notice but for the pro⯑digious ſpace it covered. Towards the end of that monarch's reign genius was called out and appeared. The magnificent temper or taſte of the Duke of Buckingham led him to collect pictures, and pointed out the ſtudy of them to Prince Charles. Rubens came over, Inigo Jones aroſe, and architecture broke forth in all the luſtre and purity of Rome and Athens—But before I come to that period, I muſt clear my way by ſome account of the preceding artiſts. The firſt painter who ſeems to have arrived after the acceſſion of James was

PAUL VANSOMER,

a native of Antwerp. The accounts of him are extremely deficient, no author of the lives of painters mentioning him but Carl Vermander, who only ſays that Vanſomer was living when he wrote, and then re⯑ſided with his brother Bernard at Amſterdam. Yet Vanſomer as a painter of portraits was a very able maſter. The picture of the Lord Chamberlain William Earl of Pembroke, half length at St. James's, is an admirable portrait, and a whole length at Chatſworth of the firſt Earl of Devonſhire in his robes, though aſcribed to Mytens, I ſhould think was painted by the ſame hand. Mytens was much colder in his [4] colouring and ſtiff in his drawing ^*. Both theſe portraits are bold and round, and the chiaro ſcuro good. The Earl of Devonſhire is equal to the pencil of Vandyck, and one of the fineſt ſingle figures I have ſeen. In what year Vanſomer came to England we do not know; cer⯑tainly as early as 1606, between which and 1620 he did ſeveral pic⯑tures. I ſhall mention but a few, that are indubitably his, from whence by compariſon his manner may be known.

James I. at Windſor, behind him a view of Whitehall.

Anne of Denmark, with a proſpect of the weſt end of St. Paul's.

The ſame King at Hampton-court, armour lying by him on the ground; better than the former. Dated 1615.

His Queen in blue, with a horſe and dogs; alſo at Hampton-court. This picture is imitated in the tapeſtry at Houghton.

Three ladies, 1615, at Ditchley; Lady Morton in purple; another, with yellow lace about her neck and a gauze ſcarf: the third in black with a crape over her forehead.

Lord Chancellor Bacon and his brother Nicholas at Gorhambury.

Sir Simon Weſton, brother of Lord Treaſurer Portland, whole length with a pike in his hand, 1608, aet. 43. This piece was in the poſſeſſion of the Lord Chief Juſtice Raymond.

Marquis of Hamilton with the white ſtaff, at Hampton-court.

Vanſomer died about the age of forty-five, and was buried at St.

[5] Martin's in the Fields as appears by the regiſter; Jan. 5, 1621. Pau⯑lus Vanſomer, pictor eximius, ſepultus fuit in eccleſiâ.

CORNELIUS JANSEN,

generally, but inaccurately, called Johnſon, was, according to Sandrart, born in London of Flemiſh parents; but Vertue, and the author of an Eſſay towards an Engliſh ſchool, ſay it was at Amſterdam, where the latter aſſerts that he reſided long, the former that he came over young, which, conſidering how late he lived, I ſhould be inclined to believe, if Vertue did not at the ſame time pronounce that his earlieſt perfor⯑mances are his beſt: So good a ſtyle of colouring was hardly formed here. His pictures are eaſily ^* diſtinguiſhed by their clearneſs, neatneſs and ſmoothneſs. They are generally painted on board, and except being a little ſtiff, are often ſtronglly marked with a fair charac⯑ter of nature, and remarkable for a lively tranquillity in the counte⯑nances. His draperies are ſeldom but black. I have two portraits by him of ſingular merit; one of Mr. Leneve, maſter of the company of merchant-taylors; the other of Sir George Villiers, father of the great Duke of Buckingham, leſs handſome, but extremely like his ſon. One of his hands reſts on the head of a greyhound, as fine as the animals of Snyder.

Janſen's firſt works in England are dated about 1618. He dwelt in the Black-friars, and had much buſineſs. His price for a head was five broad pieces. He painted too in ſmall in oil, and often copied his [6] own works in that manner. In the family of Verney were the por⯑traits of Sir Robert Heath and his lady in both ſizes. At Caſhiobury is a large piece, curious, but ſo inferior to Janſen's general manner, that if his name were not to it, I ſhou'd doubt it's being of his hand. It repreſents Arthur Lord Capel, who was beheaded, his Lady and Children. Behind them is a view of the Garden at Hadham, at that time the chief ſeat of the family. Between the years 1630 and 1640 Janſen lived much in Kent at a ſmall village called Bridge near Bar⯑hamdown, and drew many portraits for gentlemen in the neighbour⯑hood, particularly of the families of Auger, Palmer, Hammond and Bowyer. One of his beſt works was the picture of a Lady Bowyer, of the family of Auger, called for her exquiſite beauty The Star in the Eaſt. At Sherburn Caſtle in Dorſetſhire is a head of Elizabeth Wri⯑otheſley eldeſt daughter of Henry Earl of Southampton, and wife of William Lord Spenſer, her head richly dreſſed, and a picture in a blue enamelled caſe at her breaſt. This picture is well coloured, tho' not equal to another at the ſame ſeat, a half length of her mother, Eliza⯑beth, daughter of John Vernon, wife of Earl Henry. Her cloaths are magnificent, and the attire of her head, ſingular, a veil turned quite back. The face and hands are coloured with incomparable luſtre, and equal to any thing this maſter executed. There is alſo a half length in black ſatten of John Digby, firſt Earl of Briſtol, young and remarkably handſome. It is aſcribed to Janſen, but is faintly coloured, and evidently in the manner of Vandyck, whom perhaps he imitated as well as rivalled.

Janſen's fame declined ^* on the arrival of Vandyck, and the civil war [7] breaking out, Cornelius, at the importunity of his wife, quitted Eng⯑land. His paſs is recorded in the Journals of the Commons:

October 10, 1648. Ordered, that Cornelius Johnſon, picture-drawer, ſhall have Mr. Speaker's warrant to paſs beyond ſeas with Emanuel Paſſe, George Hawkins; and to carry with him ſuch pictures and co⯑lours, bedding, houſhold ſtuff, pewter, and braſs, as belongs unto him⯑ſelf.

He retired firſt to Midelburg and then to Amſterdam, where he continued to paint and died in 1665. ^* His wife's name was Eliza⯑beth Beck, to whom he was married in 1622. They had a ſon Cor⯑nelius, bred to his father's profeſſion, which he followed in Holland, where he died poor, being ruined by the extravagance of a ſecond wife. The ſon drew the Duke of Monmouth's picture, as he was on the point of ſailing for his unfortunate expedition to England.

A ſiſter of Cornelius Janſen the elder was ſecond wife of ^† Nicaſius Ruſſel or Rouſſel of Bruges, jeweller to the Kings James and Charles the firſt. They had many children. To one of the ſons born in 1619 Cornelius Janſen was godfather, and the widow of Iſaac Oliver, godmother. Theodore Ruſſel, an elder ſon was born in 1614, and lived nine years with his uncle Cornelius Janſen, and afterwards with Vandyck, whoſe pictures he copied very tolerably on ſmall pannels; many of them are in a private apartment at Windſor, at Warwick⯑caſtle, and in the collection of the Ducheſs Dowager of Argyle. Ruſſel chiefly was employed in the country in the families of the Earls of Eſſex and Holland, and was a lover of his eaſe and his bottle. [8] He was father of Antony Ruſſel, a painter, from whom Vertue recei⯑ved theſe particulars, and at whoſe houſe he ſaw a picture of Cornelius Janſen, his wife and ſon, drawn by Adrian Hanneman, who courted Janſen's neice, but was diſappointed.

DANIEL MYTENS

of the Hague, was an admired painter in the reigns of King James and King Charles. He had certainly ſtudied the works of Rubens before his coming over; his landſcape in the back grounds of his por⯑traits is evidently in the ſtyle of that ſchool; and ſome of his works have been taken for Vandyck's. The date of his arrival is not certain; probably it was in hopes of ſucceeding Van Somer; but though he drew ſeveral of the court, he was not formally employed as the King's painter 'till the reign of Charles. His patent is preſerved in Rymer's Foedera, vol. xviii, p. 3.

I found the minute of the docquet warrant for this among the Con⯑way papers in theſe words;

The office of one of his majeſty's picture-drawers in ordinary, with the fee of 20 l. per ann. graunted to Daniell Mitens during his life. Subſcribed by order from the Lord Chamberlain. Procured by Mr. Endimyon Porter, May 30, 1625.

And among the ſame MSS. is the following docquet-warrant;

July 31, 1626. A warrant to the exchequer to paie unto Daniell Mittens his majeſty's picturer the ſomme of 125 l. for divers pictures by him delivered to ſondry perſons by his majeſty's ſpecial direction. By order of the Lord Chamberlaine of his majeſty's houſhold, procured by the Lord Conway.

[]

Ant. van Dyck pinx. T.Chambars sculp.

[9] At Hampton-court are ſeveral whole lengths of Princes and Prin⯑ceſſes of the houſe of Brunſwick-Lunenburgh, and the portrait of Charles Howard Earl of Nottingham; at Kenſington is Mytens's own head. At Knowle, Lionel Cranfield Earl of Middleſex, Lord Trea⯑ſurer, with his white ſtaff, whole length. A ſmall bell on the table has theſe letters D. M. F. 1623. It was more common for him to paint a ſlip of paper on his pictures, inſcribed only with the names or titles of the perſons repreſented. At Lady Elizabeth Germain's at Drayton, is a very fine whole length of Henry Rich Earl of Holland, in a ſtri⯑ped habit with a walking ſtick. At St. James's ^* is Jeffery Hudſon the dwarf, holding a dog by a ſtring, in a landſcape, coloured warmly and freely like Snyder or Rubens. Mytens drew the ſame figure in a very large picture of Charles I. and his Queen, which was in the poſ⯑ſeſſion of the late Earl of Dunmore, but the ſingle figure is much bet⯑ter painted. The hiſtory of this diminutive perſonage was ſo remark⯑able, that the reader will perhaps not diſlike the digreſſion.

^† He was born at Oakham in Rutlandſhire in 1619, and about the age of ſeven or eight, being then but eighteen inches high, was re⯑tained in the ſervice of the Duke of Buckingham, who reſided at Bur⯑leigh on the Hill. Soon after the marriage of Charles I, the King and Queen being entertained at Burleigh, little Jeffery was ſerved up to table in a cold pye, and preſented by the Ducheſs to the Queen, who kept him as her dwarf. From ſeven years of age 'till thirty he never grew taller; but after thirty he ſhot up to three feet nine inches, and there fixed. Jeffery became a conſiderable part of the entertainment [10] of the court. Sir William Davenant wrote a poem called Jeffreidos, on a battel between him and a ^* turkey-cock, and in 1638 was publiſh⯑ed a very ſmall book called The New-year's Gift, preſented at court from the Lady Parvula to the Lord Minimus (commonly called little Jeffery) her majeſty's ſervant, &c. written by Microphilus, with a little print of Jeffery prefixed. Before this period Jeffery was employed on a negotiation of great importance: He was ſent to France to fetch a midwife for the Queen, and on his return with this gentlewoman, and her majeſty's dancing-maſter, and many rich preſents to the Queen from her mother Mary de Medici, he was taken by the Dunkirkers. ^† Jeffery, thus made of conſequence, grew to think himſelf really ſo. He had born with little temper the teazing of the courtiers and dome⯑ſtics, and had many ſquabbles with the King's gigantic porter; ^‡ at laſt being provoked by Mr. Crofts, a young gentleman of family, a chal⯑lenge enſued, and Mr. Crofts coming to the rendezvous armed only with a ſquirt, the little creature was ſo enraged that a real duel enſued, and the appointment being on horſeback with piſtols, to put them more [11] on a level, Jeffery with the firſt fire ſhot his antagoniſt dead. This happened in France whither he had attended his miſtreſs in the trou⯑bles. He was again taken priſoner by a Turkiſh rover, and ſold into Barbary. He probably did not long remain in ſlavery; for at the be⯑ginning of the civil war he was made a captain in the royal army, and in 1644 attended the Queen to France where he remained 'till the re⯑ſtoration. At laſt upon ſuſpicion of his being privy to the Popiſh plot, he was taken up in 1682, and confined in the gate-houſe Weſtminſter, where he ended his life in the ſixty-third year of his age.

Mytens remained in great reputation 'till the arrival of Vandyck, who being appointed the King's principal painter, the former in diſ⯑guſt aſked his majeſty's leave to retire to his own country; but the King learning the cauſe of his diſſatisfaction, treated him with much kindneſs, and told him that he could find ſufficient employment both for him and Vandyck; Mytens conſented to ſtay, and even grew inti⯑mate, it is probable, with his rival, for the head of ^* Mytens is one of thoſe painted among the profeſſors by that great maſter.

Whether the ſame jealouſy operated again, or real decline of buſineſs influenced him, or any other cauſe, Mytens did not ſtay much longer in England. We find none of his works here after the year 1630. Yet he lived many years afterwards. Houbraken quotes a regiſter at the Hague dated in 1656, at which time it ſays Mytens painted part of the cieling of the town-hall there; the ſubject is, Truth writing hiſtory on the back of Fame.

[12] Theſe were the moſt conſiderable painters in oil in the reign of James: There were undoubtedly ſeveral others of inferior rank, whoſe names are not come down to us, except two or three; and of one of thoſe I find nothing but this ſhort note from Baglione. ^*

Chriſtophano Roncalli, pittore, andò per la Germania, per la Fian⯑dra, per l' Olanda, per l' Inghilterra, per la Francia; e finalmente ca⯑rico d' honori e di 74 anni finì il corſo 1626. ^† I ſhould not mention ſuch ſlight notices, but that they may lead to farther diſcoveries. An other was a more remarkable perſon, eſpecially in the ſubſequent reign; but in a work of this nature it is impoſſible not to run the ſubjects of one chapter into thoſe of another, taking care however to diſtribute them, as they ſerve beſt to carry on the chronologic ſeries. His name was

ROBERT PEAKE.

The earlieſt mention of him that appears is in the ^‡ books of the Lord Harrington Treaſurer of the Chambers, No. 78, 79. being accounts of monies received and paid by him;

Item, paid to Robert Peake, picture-maker, by warrant from the council October 4, 1612, for three ſeveral pictures made by him at the commandment of the Duke of York his officers, and given away and diſpoſed of by the Duke's Grace, twenty pounds.

It does not appear whether theſe pictures were in oil or water-co⯑lours; I ſhould rather ſuppoſe portraits in miniature of (King Charles the Firſt then) Duke of York; but that Peake painted in oil is aſcer⯑tained

[13] by Peacham in his book of limning, where he expreſly cele⯑brates his good friend Mr. Peake and Mr. Marquis ^* for oil-colours. Peacham himſelf was a limner, as he tells us in the ſame book, having preſented a copy of his majeſty's Baſilicon Doron illuminated to Prince Henry.

Peake was originally a picture-ſeller by Holbourn-bridge, and had the honour of being Faithorn's maſter, and what perhaps he thought a greater honour, was knighted at Oxford, March 28, 1645. The diſorders of the times confounding all profeſſions, and no profeſſion being more bound in gratitude to take up arms in the defence of King Charles, Sir Robert Peake entered into the ſervice and was made a Lieutenant-colonel and had a command in Baſing-houſe when it was beſieged, where he perſuaded his diſciple Faithorn to inliſt under him, as the latter in his dedication of the art of graving to Sir Robert ex⯑preſly tells him, and where Peake himſelf was taken priſoner. ^† He was buried in the chuch of St. Stephen London. ^‡

Miniature makes a great figure in this reign by the luſtre thrown on it by

PETER OLIVER,

the eldeſt ſon of Iſaac Oliver, and worthy of being compared with his father. In ſome reſpects the ſon even appears the greater maſter, as he did not confine his talent to ſingle heads. Peter copied in water⯑colours ſeveral capital pictures with ſignal ſucceſs. By the catalogues [] [...] [13] [...] [14] of King Charles I. and King James II. it appears that there were thir⯑teen pieces of this maſter in the royal collection, chiefly hiſtoric minia⯑tures; ſeven of them are ſtill preſerved in Queen Caroline's cloſet at Kenſington. At the Earl of Exeter's at Burleigh is the ſtory of Venus and Adonis, painted by Peter, and dated 1631. Vertue mentions another, which was in Mr. Halſted's ſale in May, 1726; it repreſented Joſeph, the Virgin, and the Child a-ſleep, eight inches wide and five high. On it was written his name, with the termination French, P. Olivier fecit, 1628. Another piece, a fine drawing in indian ink, was copied by him from a picture of Raphael in the collection of King Charles, St. John preſenting a croſs to the child, kneeling before the Virgin. The original was ſold after the King's death to the Spaniſh Embaſſador for 600l. Jerome Laniere bought Peter's drawing, and ſold it for twenty guineas to Mr. John Evelyn, from whom it came to the preſent Sir John Evelyn. The Duke of Devonſhire has the por⯑trait of Edward 6th. when an infant, the drapery highly ornamented and finiſhed; a copy from Holbein. ^* Lady Elizabeth Germain has at Drayton the Madonna and Child. The fineſt work of Peter Oliver in my opinion is the head of his own wife, in the cabinet of the Ducheſs of Portland: It is life itſelf. I doubt whether his father ever excelled this piece. I have a head of the ſame woman drawn with black lead on the leaf of a vellom pocket-book; on the reverſe is his own portrait in profile; both maſterly: And in black and red chalk I have a boy's head, larger than he generally painted, of great nature and vivacity. At Kenſington below ſtairs is the portrait of Peter Oliver by Hanneman, who painted the wiſe too; but I know not where the latter is.

[15] It is extraordinary ^* that more of the works ^† of this excellent maſter are not known, as he commonly made duplicates of his pictures, re⯑ſerving one of each for himſelf. On this ſubject Ruſſel the painter, related to or connected with the Olivers, told Vertue a remarkable ſtory. The greater part of the collection of King Charles being diſper⯑ſed in the troubles, among which were ſeveral of the Olivers, Charles II. who remembered, and was deſirous of recovering them, made many inquiries about them after the reſtoration. At laſt he was told by one Rogers ^‡ of Iſleworth that both the father and ſon were dead, but that the ſon's widow was living at Iſleworth and had many of their works. The King went very privately and unknown with Rogers to ſee them; the widow ſhowed ſeveral finiſhed and unfiniſhed, with many of which the King being pleaſed, aſked if ſhe would ſell them: She replied, ſhe had a mind the King ſhould ſee them firſt, and if he did not pur⯑chaſe them, ſhe ſhould think of diſpoſing of them. The King diſco⯑vered himſelf, on which ſhe produced ſome more pictures which ſhe ſeldom ſhowed. The King deſired her to ſet her price; ſhe ſaid ſhe did not care to make a price with his majeſty, ſhe would leave it to him; but promiſed to look over her huſband's books and let his majeſty know what prices his father the late King had paid. The King took [16] away what he liked, and ſent Rogers to Mrs. Oliver with the option of 1000l. or an annuity of 300l, for her life. She choſe the latter. Some years afterwards it happened that the King's miſtreſſes having begged all or moſt of theſe pictures, Mrs. Oliver, who was probably a prude and apt to expreſs herſelf like a prude, ſaid, on hearing it, that if ſhe had thought the King would have given them to ſuch whores, and ſtrum⯑pets and baſtards, he never ſhould have had them. This reached the court, the poor woman's ſalary was ſtopped, and ſhe never received it afterwards. The reſt of the limnings which the King had not taken, fell into the hands of Mrs. Ruſſel's father.

Peter Oliver, ſays Vertue, died about the year 1664, aged near 60; but this muſt be a miſtake, as his father's drawing at Kenſington finiſhed by the ſon is dated 1616, when by that account Peter was not above twelve years old. From his age and the ſtory of his widow it is more likely that he died before the reſtoration. Probably the date 1664 ſhould be 1654. He was buried with his father in the Black⯑ſryars.

As in none of theſe accounts mention is made of any children of Peter Oliver, I conclude that Iſaac Oliver, glaſs-painter, born in 1616, was ſon of the younger brother James. Among the verſes printed by the univerſity of Cambridge in 1638 on the death of Mr. Edward King, Milton's Lycidas, one of the Engliſh copies is inſcribed, Iſaac Oliver, ^* who, I ſuppoſe, was the glaſs-painter, and then about the age of twenty-two, as appears from the following inſcription on a painted window in Chriſt-church Oxford, [...]liver aetat. ſuae 84, anno 1700, pinxit deditque. The ſtory is St. Peter delivered out of priſon, the drawing and execution good, but the colouring in ſome parts faint. [17] The long life of this perſon, ^* eſtimable for his own merit and that of his family, ſerved almoſt alone to preſerve the ſecret of painting on glaſs—a ſecret which however has never been loſt, as I ſhall ſhow in a moment by a regular ſeries of the profeſſors. The firſt interruption given to it was by the reformation, which baniſhed the art out of churches; yet it was in ſome meaſure kept up in the eſcutcheons of the nobility and gentry in the windows of their ſeats. Towards the end of Queen Elizabeth it was omitted even there, yet the practice did not en⯑tirely ceaſe. The chapel of our Lady at Warwick was ornamented a-new by Robert Dudley Earl of Leiceſter and his Counteſs, and the cypher of the glaſs-painter's name yet remains with the date 1574; and in ſome of the chapels at Oxford the art again appears dating it⯑ſelf in 1622 by the hand of no contemptible maſter. I could ſupply even the gap of forty-eight years by many dates on Flemiſh glaſs, but nobody ever ſuppoſed that the ſecret was loſt ſo early as the reign of James I. and that it has not periſhed ſince will be evident from the fol⯑lowing ſeries reaching to the preſent hour.

The portraits in the windows of the library at All-Souls, Oxford.

In the chapel at Queen's-college twelve windows, dated 1518.

[...] a cypher on the painted glaſs in the chapel at Warwick, 1574.

The windows at Wadham-college; the drawing pretty good, and the colours fine, by Bernard Van Linge, 1622.

In the chapel at Lincoln's-inn, a window with the name of Bernard, 1623. This was probably the preceding Van Linge.

[18] In the chapel at Wroxton ſtories from the Bible by Bernard Van Linge, 1632.

In Chriſt-church, Oxford, by Abraham Van Linge, 1640.

In the church of St. Leonard Shoreditch, two windows by Baptiſta Sutton, 1634.

The Eaſt window in the chapel at Univerſity-college. Hen. Giles ^* pinxit, 1687. There are eight or ten more dated 1640.

— at Chriſt-church, Iſaac Oliver, aged 84, 1700.

Window in Merton-chapel, William Price, ^† 1700.

Windows at Queen's, New-college and Maudlin, by William Price, the ſon, now living, whoſe colours are fine, whoſe drawing good, and whoſe taſte in ornaments and moſaic is far ſuperior to any of his pre⯑deceſſors, is equal to the antique, to the good Italian maſters, and only ſurpaſſed by his own ſingular modeſty. ^‡

[]

[19]EDWARD NORGATE,

though of a very inferior walk in the profeſſion, deſerves to be remem⯑bered for his uncommon excellence in his way. He was ſon of Dr. Robert Norgate, maſter of Bennet-college Cambridge, where Edward was born. He was brought up by Nicholas Felton Biſhop of Ely who married his mother, and who obſerving his inclination to limning and heraldry, permitted him to indulge his genius. As he had good judg⯑ment in pictures, he was ſent into Italy by the great collector, Thomas Earl of Arundel, to purchaſe for him, but returning by Marſeilles and by ſome accident being diſappointed of the remittances he expected, and totally unknown there, he was obſerved by a French gentleman [20] to walk many hours every day on the cours in a diſconſolate manner. The gentleman inquiring into his circumſtances, told him, that percei⯑ving he was able to walk at leaſt twenty miles a day, if he would ſet out on his journey homewards, he would furniſh him handſomely for a footman, by which aſſiſtance Norgate arrived in his own country. ^* Among the accounts of the Lord Harrington quoted above, is the fol⯑lowing entry;

Paid to Edward Norgate by warrant from the council April 24, 1613, for his paynes taken to write and lymne in gold and colours certain letters written from his majeſty to the King of Perſia, the ſum of ten pounds.

Theſe letters were undoubtedly in anſwer to thoſe brought by that ſingular adventurer Sir Antony Shirley, embaſſador from the Sophy to his own ſovereign.

The warrant for reſtoring the uſe of the old Engliſh march, which I have ſet forth in the Catalogue of Noble Authors, was illuminated by this perſon; but the beſt evidence of his abilities is a curious patent lately diſcovered. The preſent Earl of Stirling received from a relation an old box of neglected writings, among which he found the original commiſſion of Charles I. appointing his Lordſhip's predeceſſor Alexan⯑der Earl of Stirling commander in chief of Nova-Scotia with the con⯑firmation of the grant of that province made by James I. In the initial letter are the portraits of the King ſitting on the throne delivering the patent to the Earl, and round the border repreſentations in miniature of the cuſtoms, huntings, fiſhings and productions of the country, all in the higheſt preſervation, and ſo admirably executed, that it was be⯑lieved of the pencil of Vandyck. But as I know no inſtance of that [21] maſter having painted in this manner, I cannot doubt but it was the work of Norgate, allowed the beſt illuminator of that age, and gene⯑rally employed, ſays Fuller, to make the initial letters in the patents of Peers and commiſſions of Embaſſadors. Fuller concludes his account of him in theſe words; "He was an excellent herald by the title of [...] , ^* and which was the crown of all, a right honeſt man. Exem⯑plary his patience in his ſickneſs (whereof I was an eye witneſs) though a complication of diſeaſes, ſtone, ulcer in the bladder, &c. ſeized on him." He died at the Herald's office Dec. 23, 1650.

SOLOMON DE CAUS,

a Gaſcon, was Prince Henry's drawing-maſter. All ^† we know of him is that in 1612, the year of the Prince's death, he publiſhed a book, intituled, La Perſpective ou Raiſon des ombres et miroirs, with ſeveral engraved plates, folio. It is addreſſed from Richmond palace to Prince Henry, after he had been, as he tells his Highneſs two or three years in his ſervice; and another tract in folio on mechanic powers, 1628.

This young Prince was a great lover of the arts, and laid the foun⯑dation of the collection, which his brother compleated. The medals were purchaſed by him, and Vanderdort, in his catalogue, mentions ſeveral ſtatues and pictures which King Charles inherited from Prince Henry. In the appendix to Birch's life of this Prince are ſeveral let⯑ters [22] from Sir Edward Conway, in one ^* of which he mentions having bought a picture of the Four Evangeliſts, whom he calls affectedly, the moſt faithfull, glorious and excellent ſecretaries that ever were to tbe in⯑finite incomprehenſible Prince; deſiring Mr. Adam Newton, ſecretary to the moſt hopefull, powerfull and glorious earthly Prince, to preſent it to his Royal Highneſs; and in others is much talk of a negotiation in which he was employed by the ſame Prince to engage an eminent painter of Delft to come to England. This was Mireveldt, who had many ſolli⯑citations afterwards from King Charles on the ſame head; but none ſucceeded. The printed letters are from the Harleian MSS. and de⯑ſcribe Mireveldt as very fantaſtic and capricious. Mr. Weſt has two others, one from Mireveldt to Sir Edward Conway, the other from Sir Edward, in which appears the cauſe of Mireveldt's uncertainty; he was afraid of being ſtayed in England by authority, and ſtipulated that he ſhould have liberty to return in three months.—In 1625 he had again engaged to come but was prevented by the breaking out of the plague. Mireveldt is ſaid to have painted five thouſand portraits; there are ſome in England of his hand, as Henry Earl of Southampton at Woburn; Sir Ralph Winwood; a fine whole length at Kimbolton of Robert Rich Earl of Warwick, and a print of Robert Earl of Lindſey by Vorſt 1631, was engraved from a picture of Mireveldt, but theſe por⯑traits muſt have been painted when thoſe perſons followed the wars and their buſineſs abroad.

It was in the reign of King James that the ^† manufacture of tapeſtry [23] was ſet up at Mortlack in Surrey, Aubrey in his hiſtory of that county dates it's inſtitution in the ſubſequent reign; but Loyd ^* is not only poſitive for the former aera, but affirms that at the motion of King James himſelf, who gave two thouſand pounds towards the un⯑dertaking, Sir Francis Crane erected the houſe at Mortlack for the ex⯑ecution of the deſign; and this is confirmed by authentic evidence: In Rymer's Foedera ^† is an acknowledgment from King Charles in the very firſt year of his reign that he owes 6000l. to Sir Francis Crane for tapeſtry; ‘Franciſco Crane militi A. D. 1625.’

For three ſuits of gold tapeſtry for our uſe we ſtand indebted to Sir Francis Crane for 6000l. Granted to him an annuity of 1000l. To Sir Francis Crane alſo allowed more 2000l. yearly for the better main⯑tenance of the ſaid worke of tapeſtries for ten years to come.

It is plain by this deed that the manufacture was then arrived at great perfection. Another ſuit of hangings, executed at the ſame place, and repreſenting the five ſenſes, was in the palace at Oatlands: They were ſold in 1649 for 270l. At Hampton-court are ſome of the cartoons.

The beautifull hangings at Lord Orford's at Houghton, containing whole lengths of King James, King Charles, their Queens, and the King of Denmark, with heads of the royal children in the borders, were in all probability the production of the ſame manufacture.

Williams, Archbiſhop of York and Lord Keeper, paid Sir Francis Crane 2500l. for the four ſe [...]ns.

At Knowle is a piece of the ſame tapeſtry, wrought in ſilk, contain⯑ing [24] the portraits of Vandyck and Sir Francis himſelf. Mrs. Mark⯑ham, whoſe maiden name was Crane, and a deſcendent of Sir Francis, has a half length portrait in tapeſtry of her anceſtor, with the collar of St. George over his ſhoulders. She has alſo a picture in the ſame manufacture of St. George and the dragon. She is a Roman Catho⯑lic Lady and lives in Lincolnſhire. At Lord Ilcheſter's at Redlinch in Somerſetſhire is a ſuit of hangings of this manufacture, repreſent⯑ing the twelve months in compartments. I have ſeen ſeveral more ſets of the ſame deſign; the habits are of the court of Francis 1ſt. and one of the months repreſents a Gentleman and Lady riding together to hawk.

Of this perſon I find no farther record with relation to the arts, but that he made a preſent to the King of a ſea-piece painted by Perſellis; and was dead when Vanderdort drew up the catalogue ^* The manu⯑facture will be mentioned again in the article of Franceſco Cleyne.

Sculpture was carried to no great height in the reign of James: What ſtatuaries there were, found employment chiefly on monu⯑ments, which, as far as I have ſeen, were generally in a bad taſte. What little Vertue could diſcover of the artiſts I ſhall ſet down. []

[25]MAXIMILIAN COLTE

lived in St. Bartholomew's cloſe: In the church is a monument for his daughter Abigail, who died at the age of 16, March 29, 1629: And in the regiſter of the pariſh is mentioned the interment of his wife Suſan, who died in 1645. He had two ſons Alexander and John; the latter was a ſtone-cutter, and was buried in the ſame pariſh with his wife and children. Maximilian, the father, was of ſome emi⯑nence, and was in the ſervice of the crown, as appears by an office⯑book of the board of works;

Maximilian Colte, maſter ſculptor at 8l. a year, 1633.

EPIPHANIUS EVESHAM

was another ſculptor of that time: In the tranſlation of Owen's epi⯑grams by John Penkethman printed in 1624, the tranſlator ſays, "give me leave to inſert his (Owen's) epitaph, which is engraved in a plate of braſs, and fixed under his monumental image, formed and erected by that moſt exquiſite artiſt, Mr. Epiphanius Eveſham, in the cathe⯑dral of St. Paul."

NICHOLAS STONE

was the ſtatuary moſt in vogue. He was born at Woodbury near Exeter, in 1586, and coming to London, lived for ſome time with one Iſaac James. He then went to Holland, where he worked for Peter de Keyſer, whoſe daughter he married; and returning to England was employed in making monuments for perſons of the firſt diſtinction. [26] In 1616 he was ſent to Edinburgh to work in the King's chapel there. In 1619 he was engaged on the building of the banquetting-houſe; and in the beginning of the reign of King Charles he received his pa⯑tent as maſter maſon, recorded in Rymer's Foedera ^* of which this is the ſubſtance; "Know ye that we do give and graunt unto our truſty and well-beloved ſervant Nicholas Stone the office and place of our maſter maſon and architect for all our buildings and reparations be⯑longing to our caſtle of Windſor during the term of his natural life; and further, for the executing the ſaid office, we do give him the wa⯑ges and fee of twelve pence by the day in as ample and as large a man⯑ner as ^† William Suthis or any other perſon heretofore did enjoy. A. D. 1626, April 20."

The hiſtory of his works is fully recorded by himſelf. Vertue met with his pocket-book, in which he kept an account of the ſtatues and tombs he executed, of the perſons for whom done, and of the pay⯑ments he received: A copy of this ^‡ pocket-book Vertue obtained, from which I ſhall extract the moſt remarkable and curious articles.

"In June 1614, I bargained with Sir Walter Butler for to make a tomb for the Earl of Ormond, and to ſet it up in Ireland; for the which I had well paid me 100l. in hand, and 300l, when the work was ſet up at Kilkenny in Ireland."

[27] "1615. Agreed with Mr. Griffin for to make a tomb for my ^* Lord of Northampton and to ſett it in Dover-caſtle, for the which I had 500l. well payed. I made maſter Iſaac James a partner with me in cour⯑teſy, becauſe he was my maſter three years, that was, two years of my prentice, and one year journeyman."

"In May 1615, I did ſet up a tomb for Sir Thomas Bodely in Ox⯑ford, for which Mr. Hackwell of Lincoln's-inn payed me 200l. good money."

"In November 1615 Mr. Janſen in Southwark and I did ſett up a tomb for Mr. Sutton at Charter-houſe, for the which we had 400l. well payed, but the little monument of Mr. Lawes was included, the which I made and all the carven work of Mr. Sutton's tomb."

"July 1616 was I ſent into Scotland, where I undertook to do work in the King's chapple and for the King's cloſſett, and the organ, ſo much as came to 450l. of wainſcot-worke, the which I performed and had my money well payed, and 50l, was given to drink, whereof I had 20l. given me by the King's command."

"1616. A bargain made with Mr. Chambers for the uſe of the Right Honorable ^† Luce Countes of Bedford, for one fair and ſtately [28] tomb of touchſtone and white marble for her father and mother and brother and ſiſter, for the which I was to have 1020l. and my lady was to ſtand at all charges for carridge and iron and ſetting up."

"1619. A bargain made with Sir Charles Moriſon of Caſhioberry in Hartfordſhire for a tomb of alabaſter and touchſtone onely. One pictor of white marble for his father, and his own, and his ſiſter the Counteſs of ^* Seſex, as great as the life of alabaſter, for the which I had well payed 260l. and four pieces given me to drink."

"1619, I was ſent for to the officers of his majeſty's workes to un⯑dertake the charge of the place of maſter maſon for the new banquet⯑ting-houſe at Whitehall, wherein I was employed two years, and I had payed me four ſhillings and ten pence the day: And in that year I made the diall at St. James's, the King finding ſtone and workmanſhip only, and I had for it 6l.—13s.—4d. And I took down the fountain at Theobalds, and ſett it up again, and the fountain at Nonſuch, and I was payed for both 48l."

"And in 1622 I made the great ^* diall in the Privy-garden at Whitehall, for the which I had 46l."

"And that year 1622 I made a diall for my Lord Brook in Hol⯑bourn, for the which I had 8l.—10s."

"Unto Sir John Daves at Chelſey I made two ſtatues of an old man and a woman and a diall, for the which I had 7l. a piece."

"And a tomb for Dr. Donne's wife in St. Clement-danes, for the which I had fifteen pieces."

"1620. In Suffolke I made a tomb for Sir Edmund Bacon's lady, [29] and in the ſame church of Redgrave I made another for his ſiſter Lady (Gawdy) and was very well payed for them. And in the ſame place I made two pictors of white marbell of Sir N. Bacon and his Lady, and they were layed upon the tomb that Bernard Janſon had made there, for the which two pictors I was payed by Sir Edmund Bacon 200l."

"I alſo made a monument for Mr. Spencer the poet, and ſet it up at Weſtminſter, for the which the Counteſs of Dorſett payed me 40l.

"And another there for Mr. Francis Holles, the youngeſt ſon of the Earl of Clare, for the which the ſayd Earl payed for it 50l. [As this figure is of moſt antique ſimplicity and beauty, the deſign was certain⯑ly given by the Earl to Stone, who when left to himſelf had no idea of grace, as appears by the tomb of the Lytteltons at Oxford.]"

"My Lord of Clare alſo agreed with me for a monument for his brother Sir George Holles, the which I made and ſett up in the chap⯑pell at Weſtminſter where Sir Francis Vere lyeth buried, for the which I was payed from the hands of the ſaid Earl of Clare 100l."

"And in the ſame church I made an inſcription for Sir Richard Cox for the which I had 30l."

"And another faſt by for Monſieur Caſabon, the Lord Biſhop of Durham payed for it 60l."

"And about this time (1625) I made for the Old Exchange in London four ſtatues, the one Edward 5, Richard 3, and Henry 7. for theſe three I had 25l. a piece, and one for Queen Elizabeth, which was taken down and ſett up again were now it ſtandeth at Guildhall gate, for the which I had 30l."

And in 1629 I made a tomb for mylady Paſton of Norfolk, and [30] ſet it up at Paſton, and was very extraordinarily entertained there, and payed for it 340l."

"In 1631, I made a tomb for the Right Hon. Lady the Counteſs of Buckingham, and ſet it up in Weſtminſter-abbey, and was payed for it 560l."

"In 1631, I made a ^* tomb for Dr. Donne, and ſett it up in St. Paul's London, for the which I was payed by Dr. Mountford the ſum of 120l. I took 60l. in plate, in part of payment."

"In 1634 I made a chemny-peece for Sir John Holland, and ſett it up at Godnon [Quidnam] in Norfolke, for the which I had 100l."

"And 1632, I made a chemny-peece for Mr. Paſton ſett up at Oxnett in Norfolke, for the which I had 80l. and one ſtatue of Venus and Cupid, and had 30l. for it; and one ſtatue of Jupiter 25l. and the three-headed dog Cerberus with a pedeſtal 14l. and Seres, and Hercu⯑les, and Mercury 50l. and a tomb for mylady Catherine his dear wife 200l. and a little chemny-peece in a banquetting-houſe 30l. and one Rance marbel tabel with a foot 15l. and divers other things ſent down to him from time to time, as paintings, arms, &c. and in May 1641 ſent to him three ſtatues, the one Appollo, Diana, and Juno, agreed for 25l. a piece, with pedeſtals."

"In 1635 I made a tomb for the two ſonns of Sir Thomas Little⯑ton, and ſett it up in Malden-college in Oxford, where the boys were drowned, for the which work I had 30l."

"In 1650 I made a tomb for my Lord Caſtleton Vycount Dorcheſ⯑ter, and ſett it up at Weſtminſter-abbey, for the which I had 200l. [31] and old monument that ſtood in the ſame place before ſett up for his Lady ſome eight years before." ^*

The whole receipts as they were caſt up by Stone's kinſman Charles Stoakes amounted to 10889l.

[32] Beſides theſe works Stone in 1629 undertook to build for the Earl of Holland at Kenſington two piers of good Portland ſtone to hang a pair of great wooden gates; the eſtimate of the piers (which were deſigned by Inigo Jones, and are ſtill ſtanding at Holland-houſe tho' removed to greater diſtance from each other) was 100l.

He built the great gate of St. Mary's church, and the ſtone gates for the phyſic-garden at Oxford, deſigned too by Inigo, for the Earl of Danby, by whom (as by ſome other perſons) he was employed even as an architect. The Earl ordered Stone to deſign a houſe for him at Cornbury, and to direct the workmen, for which he was paid 1000l. In 1638 he built Tarthall near Buckingham-houſe for the Counteſs of Arundel, and had paid to him at different times to pay workmen 634l. He built the front of St. Mary's at Oxford, and executed many works at Windſor for King Charles, particularly three cartouches to ſupport the balcony, the ſtar and garter. The figure of the Nile on the ſtairs at Somerſet-houſe was of his work; the other ſtatue was done by Kerne a German, who married Stone's ſiſter. He employed ſeveral workmen, ſome of whoſe names he has preſerved among his own ac⯑counts, as follow;

1629. John Hargrave made a ſtatue of Sir Edward Cook for 15l.—0s.—0d.

1631. Humphrey Mayor finiſht the ſtatue for Dr. Donne's monu⯑ment, 8l.—0s.—0d.

1638. John Hargrave made the ſtatue to the monument of Lord Spencer, 14l.—0s.—0d. and Richard White made the ſtatue of Lady Spencer, 15l.—0s.—0d.

1643. John Schurman, carver.

Nicholas Stone died in 1647, and was buried in St. Martin's, where [33] on the north wall within the church is the following inſcription, with a profile of his head."

"To the laſting memory of Nicholas Stone, Eſq maſter maſon to his majeſty, in his life time eſteemed for his knowledge in ſculpture and architecture, which his works in many parts do teſtify, and, though made for others, will prove monuments of his fame. He departed this life on the 24th of Auguſt 1647, aged ſixty-one, and lyeth buried near the pulpit in this church. Mary his wife and Nicholas his ſon, lye alſo buried in the ſame grave. She died November 19th, and He on the 17th of September, 1647. H. S. poſuit."

Stone had three ſons, Henry, Nicholas, and John. The two eldeſt were ſent to Italy to ſtudy; the youngeſt was educated at Oxford, being deſigned for a clergyman, but in the civil war he entered into the army on the King's ſide. During that period this John Stone publiſhed a book on fortification, called Enchiridion, with many ſmall cuts etched by himſelf but without his name. The King's forces being routed, young Stone and a companion made their eſcape; the latter was taken and hanged before his father's door in Smithfield, but Stone hid him⯑ſelf in his father's houſe in Long-acre for above a twelve-month, with⯑out the knowledge, ſays Vertue, of his father, whence I ſuppoſe, he had either offended the old man by quitting his ſtudies for arms, or the father was too prudent to riſk the emoluments of his profeſſion by en⯑gaging in party-diſſentions. John at laſt found means of retiring to France, where he lived ſome years, and, I conclude, applied himſelf to the arts, as we ſhall find him after his return engaged in his father's buſineſs. Nicholas, the ſecond ſon, was of a promiſing genius; and while abroad modelled after the antiques ſo well, that his works have been miſtaken for the beſt Italian maſters. Mr. Bird the ſtatuary had [34] the Laocoon and Bernini's Apollo and Daphne in Terra cotta by this Nicholas Stone, and Vertue ſaw a book with many of his drawings of palaces, churches, and other buildings in Italy. He returned to Eng⯑land in 1642, and died the ſame year as his father.

Henry, the eldeſt ſon, who erected the monument for his father, mother, and brother, carried on, in conjunction with John, the buſineſs of ſtatuary, after his father's death; though Henry addicted himſelf chiefly to painting, and was an excellent copyiſt of Vandyck and the Italian maſters: He is generally known by the name of Old Stone, I ſuppoſe to diſtinguiſh him from his brother John. Henry wrote a book, a thin folio, entituled the third part of the art of painting, taken moſtly from the ancients. Vertue, who ſaw this book, was uncertain whether the two former parts were compoſed by Stone, or by ſome other author. The accounts of Nicholas Stone, ſen. which I have quoted above, were continued by John, while he and Henry worked in partnerſhip; among other articles are the following;

"In the year of our Lord 1659 my brother and I made a tomb for the Lord Aſhley, for which we had 60l.

"Formerly I made a little tomb of white marble, being an eagle with an eſcutcheon upon his breaſt, ſett up at Sunning in Barkſhire, for 7l.

"In Ano. 1656 I ſett up a little tomb in the Temple church for Sir John Williams, and had for it 10l. It was an eagle of white marble." There are but fifteen monuments entered in this account, the prices of none of which riſe above 100l. Conſequently the ſons, I ſuppoſe, never attained the reputation of the father.

A head of Sir Jonas Moore with a ſcroll of paper in his hand was

[35] engraved by T. Croſs in 1649 from a painting by Henry Stone, ^* whoſe houſe, garden, and work-yard in Long-acre, the ſame that had been his father's, were rented from the crown at 10l. a year, as appear⯑ed when ſurveyed in 1650 by the commiſſioners appointed to in⯑ſpect the lands that had belonged to the King. Henry Stone died in 1653, and was buried near his father, where a monument was erected and this epitaph written for him by his brother John.

"To the memory of Henry Stone of Long-acre, painter and ſtatuary, who having paſſed the greateſt part of thirty-ſeven years in Holland, France, and Italy, atchieved a fair renown for his excellency in arts and languages, and departed this life on the 24th day of Auguſt, A. D. 1653, and lyeth buried near the pulpit in this church:

John Stone to perfect his fraternal affections erected this monument."

And a little lower, June 1699,

In memory of whom their near kinſman, Charles Stoakes, repaired this monument.

John Stone, the laſt of the family, died ſoon after the Reſtoration; and Stoakes, the perſon above-mentioned, from whom Vertue learned all theſe circumſtances, came into poſſeſſion of many drawings, prints, paintings, models, &c. particularly many portraits of the family in ſmall by Henry Stone; and from Stoakes, the pictures fell into the hands of Mr. Cock the auctioneer.

BERNARD JANSEN

was an architect at the ſame time that Nicholas Stone was the faſhiona⯑ble ſtatuary. They were employed together, as appears by the foregoing memorandums, on the tomb of Mr. Sutton the founder of the Char⯑terhouſe. Of what country Janſen ^* was, does not appear; by both his names I conclude a foreigner, and probably a Fleming, as he was a profeſſed imitator of Dieterling, a famous builder in the Netherlands, [37] who wrote ſeveral books on architecture. Janſen was engaged on many great works ^* here; he built Audley-inn, ^† and the greater part of Nor⯑thumberland-houſe, except the frontiſpiece, which Vertue diſcovered to be the work of the next artiſt

[38]GERARD CHRISMAS.

Before the portal of that palace was altered by the preſent Earl of Nor⯑thumberland, there were in a freeze near the top in large capitals C. AE. an enigma long inexplicable to antiquarians. Vertue found that at the period when the houſe was built, lived Chriſmas, an archi⯑tect and carver of reputation, who gave the deſign of Alderſgate, and cut the baſrelief on it of James I. on horſeback, and thence concluded that thoſe letters ſignified, Chriſmas aedificavit. ^* Janſen probably built the houſe, which was of brick, and the frontiſpiece, which was of ſtone, was finiſhed by Chriſmas. The carvers of the great ſhip, built at Wool⯑wich by Mr. Peter Pett in 1637, were John and Mathias Chriſmas, ſons of Gerard. ^†

JOHN SMITHSON

was an architect in the ſervice of the Earls of Newcaſtle. He built part of Welbeck in 1604, the riding-houſe ^‡ there in 1623, and the ſtables in 1625; and when William Cavendiſh, Earl and afterwards [39] Duke of Newcaſtle, propoſed to repair and make great additions to Bolſover-caſtle, Smithſon, it is ſaid, was ſent to Italy to collect deſigns. From them I ſuppoſe it was that the noble apartment erected by that Duke, and lately pulled down, was compleated, Smithſon dying in 1648. Many of Smithſon's drawings were purchaſed by the late Lord Byron from his deſcendents who lived at Bolſover, in the chancel of which church Smithſon is buried with this inſcription;

His ſon, a man of ſome ſkill in architecture, was buried in the ſame grave.

[...] BUTLER

a name preſerved only by Peacham, in whoſe time Butler ſeems to have been ſtill living, for ſpeaking of Architecture and of the Lord Trea⯑ſurer Saliſbury, "who, he adds, as he favoureth all learning and ex⯑cellency, ſo he is a principal patron of this art, having lately employ⯑ed Mr. Butler and many excellent artiſts for the beautifying his [...] eſpecially his chapel at Hatfield.

[40]STEPHEN HARRISON

who calls himſelf joyner and architect, invented the triumphal arches erected in London for the reception of James I. They were engrav⯑ed by Kip on a few leaves in folio, a work I never ſaw but in the li⯑brary at Chatſworth.

I ſhall conclude what I have to ſay on the reign of King James, with a brief account of a few of his medalliſts. This article is one of the moſt deficient in Vertue's notes; he had found but very ſlight materials, though equally inquiſitive on this head with the reſt. One muſt ex⯑cept the ſubject of the two Simons, of whoſe works as he himſelf pub⯑liſhed a moſt curious volume, I ſhall omit the mention of them in this catalogue, only deſiring that Vertue's account of the two Simons and Hollar, and the catalogues of the collections of King Charles, King James and the Duke of Buckingham, may be regarded as parts of this his great deſign. By thoſe ſpecimens one ſees how perfect he wiſhed and laboured to make the whole.

I was in hopes of compleating this article, by having recourſe to Mr. Evelyn's Diſcourſe on Medals, but was extremely diſappointed to ſind that in a folio volume, in which he has given the plates and in⯑ſcriptions of a regular ſeries of our medals, he takes not the leaſt no⯑tice of the gravers. I ſhould not have expected that a virtuoſo ſo know⯑ing would have contented himſelf with deſcriptions of the perſons re⯑preſented, he who had it in his inclination, and generally in his power, to inform poſterity of almoſt every thing they would wiſh to learn. Had Mr. Evelyn never regretted his ignorance of the names of the workmen of thoſe inimitable medals of the Seleucidae, of the fair [41] coins of Auguſtus, and of the Denarii of the other Roman Emperors? Was he ſatisfied with poſſeſſing the effigies of Tiberius, Claudius, Irene, without wiſhing to know the names of the ingenious and more harmleſs gravers—Why did he think poſterity would not be as curious to learn who were the medalliſts of Charles II. James I. Mary I.? He has omitted all names of gravers except in two or three of the plates, and even there ſays not a word of the artiſt. For inſtance in a medal of Charles I. p. 113, under the King's buſt are the letters N. R. F. I cannot diſcover who this N. R. was. ^* Thomas Rawlins was a graver of the mint about that time; perhaps he had a brother who worked in partnerſhip with him. I was ſo ſurprized at this omiſ⯑ſion, that I concluded Mr. Evelyn muſt have treated of the gravers in ſome other part of the work. I turned to the index, and to my greater ſurprize found almoſt every thing but what I wanted. In the ſingle letter N. which contains but twenty-ſix articles, are the follow⯑ing ſubjects, which I believe would puzzle any man to gueſs how they found their way into a diſcourſe on medals;

In ſhort, Mr. Evelyn, who loved to know, was too fond of telling [42] the world all he knew. ^* His virtue, induſtry, ingenuity, and learning, were remarkable; one wiſhes he had written with a little more judg⯑ment—or perhaps it is not my intereſt to wiſh ſo; it would be more prudent to ſhelter under his authority any part of this work that is not much to the purpoſe.

All this author ſays ^† of our medalliſts is, that we had Symons, Rawlins, Mr. Harris, Chriſtian, &c. and then refers us to his Chalco⯑graphy, ^‡ where indeed he barely names two more, Reſtrick and John⯑ſon, of whom I can find no other account. The reader muſt therefore accept what little is ſcattered up and down in Vertue's MSS. I have already mentioned one or two in the preceding volume. The firſt graver I meet in the reign of James is

CHARLES ANTONY,

to whom Sir Thomas Knyvet, maſter of the mint in the ſecond of that [43] King, paid by warrant 40l. for gold and workmanſhip, for graving an offering piece of gold, Anthony having then the title of the King's graver. ^* Vertue ſuppoſes this perſon made the medal in 1604 on the peace with Spain, a medal not mentioned by Evelyn, and that he con⯑tinued in office 'till 1620. Mr. Anſtis informed him of a warrant to a brother of Charles Antony, called

THOMAS ANTONY

curatori monetae et ſigillorum regis ad cudendum magnum ſigillum pro epiſcopatu et comitatu palatino Dunelm. 1617. But of neither of theſe brothers do I find any other traces.

THOMAS BUSHELL

was probably a medalliſt of the ſame age. In the year 1737 Mr. Compton produced at the Antiquarian Society, as I find by their minutes, a gold medal, larger than a crown piece; on one ſide Lord Chancellor Bacon in his hat and robes, with this legend, Bacon Viceco. Sct. Alb. Angliae Cancell. On the reverſe, Thomas Buſhell. Deus eſt qui clauſa recludit.

NICHOLAS BRIOT

was a native of Lorrain, and graver of the mint to the King of France, in which kingdom he was the inventor, or at leaſt one of the firſt pro⯑poſers [44] of coining money by a preſs, inſtead of the former manner of hammering. As I am ignorant myſelf in the mechanic part of this art, and have not even the pieces quoted by Vertue, I ſhall tread very cautiouſly, and only tranſcribe the titles of ſome memorials which he had ſeen, and from whence I conclude a litterary controverſy was car⯑ried on in France on the ſubject of this new invention, to which, ac⯑cording to cuſtom, the old practicioners ſeem to have objected, as, probably interfering with the abuſes of which they were in preſcriptive poſſeſſion.

Raiſons de Nicolas Briot, tailleur et graveur des monoyes de France, pour rendre et faire toutes les monoyes du royaume à l'advenir uni⯑formes et ſemblables, &c.

Les remonſtrances faites par la cour des monoyes contre la nouvelle invention d'une preſſe ou machine pour fabriquer les monoyes, pro⯑poſee par Nicolas Briot. 1618. qu^o.

Examen d'un avis preſentè au conſeil de ſa majeſtè 1621 pour la re⯑formation des monoyes par Nicolas Briot. compoſè par Nicolas Coque⯑rel. This Coquerel, I find by another note, was Generalis monetarius, or Pope of the mint, into which the reformation was to be introduced. The Luther, Briot, I ſuppoſe, miſcarried, as we ſoon afterwards find him in the ſervice of the crown of England, where projectors were more favorably received. From theſe circumſtances I conclude he ar⯑rived in the reign of King James, though he did not make his way to court before the acceſſion of King Charles, the patron of genius. Briot's firſt public work was a medal of that Prince exhibited in Eve⯑lyn, with the artiſt's name and the date 1628. To all or to almoſt all his coins and medals he put at leaſt the initial letter of his name. He was employed both in England and Scotland. In 1631, as appears by [45] Rymer's Foedera, tom xix. p. 287, a ſpecial commiſſion was appointed for making trial of the experience ſkill and induſtry of Nicholas Briot, in the coinage of money at the mint, dated June 13, 1631, at Weſtminſter. This was the project he had attempted in France, by inſtruments, mills and preſſes, to make better money and with leſs ex⯑pence to the crown than by the way of hammering. The ſcheme was probably approved, for in the very next year we find him coining mo⯑ney upon the regular eſtabliſhment. There is extant a parchment roll, containing the accounts of Sir Robert Harley, Knight of the Bath, maſter worker of his majeſty's monies of gold and ſilver within the tower of London, in the reign of King Charles I. from November 8, 1628, to Auguſt 1, 1636. In this account, in 1632 are payments to Briot for coining various parcels of gold and ſilver, which are followed by this entry.

"And delivered to his majeſtie in fair ſilver monies at Oatlands by Sir Thomas Ayleſbury, viz. iij crownes, and iij half crownes of Briot's moneys, and iij crownes, and iij half crownes, and ten ſhillings of the monoyers making."

Theſe comparative pieces were probably preſented to the King by Sir Robert Harley, Briot's patron, to ſhow the ſuperior excellence of the latter's method.

Briot returned to France about 1642, having formed that excellent ſcholar Thomas Simon.

In a private family (the name of which he does not mention) Vertue ſaw a peachſtone, on which was carved the head of King Charles full faced, with a laurel, and on the reverſe, St. George on horſeback, with the garter round it; and on one ſide above the King's head, theſe let⯑ters [...]. The tradition in that family was, that the carver having been [46] removed from the ſervice of the crown, and at laſt obtaining the place of poor Knight at Windſor, cut that curioſity to ſhow he was not ſu⯑perannuated nor incapable of his office as he had been repreſented. If the mark [...] ſignified Nicholas Briot, as is probable, either the ſtory is fictitious, or Briot did not return to France on the breaking out of the civil war. The latter is moſt likely, as in the Treaſury, where the plate of St. George's chapel is depoſited, there is ſuch another piece, though inferior in workmanſhip to that above-mentioned. In the Muſeum at Oxford are two ſmall carvings in wood, Chriſt on the croſs and the Nativity, with the ſame cypher [...] on each.

ANECDOTES OF PAINTING, &c.
CHAP. II.
CHARLES I. His Love and Protection of the Arts, Ac⯑counts of Vanderdort and Sir Balthazar Gerbiere. Diſperſion of the King's Collection, and of the Earl of Arundel's.

THE acceſſion of this Prince was the firſt aera of real taſte in England. As his temper was not profuſe, the expence he made in collections, and the rewards he beſtowed on men of true genius and merit, are proofs of his judgment. He knew how and when to beſtow. Queen Elizabeth was avaricious with pomp; James I. laviſh with meanneſs. A prince who patronizes the arts, and can diſtinguiſh abilities, enriches his country, and is at once generous and an oeconomiſt. Charles had virtues to make a nation happy; for⯑tunate, if he had not thought, that he alone knew how to make them happy, and that he alone ought to have the power of making them ſo!

His character, as far as it relates to my ſubject, is thus given by Lilly; "He had many excellent parts in nature, was an excellent [48] horſeman, would ſhoot well at a mark, had ſingular ſkill in limning, was a good judge of pictures, a good mathematician, not unſkillfull in muſic, well read in divinity, excellently in hiſtory and law, he ſpoke ſeveral languages, and writ well, good language and ſtyle." Perinchief is ſtill more particular; "His ſoul, ſays that writer, was ſtored with a full knowledge of the nature of things, and eaſily comprehended almoſt all kinds of arts that either were for delight or of a public uſe; for he was ignorant of nothing, but of what he thought it became him to be negligent, for many parts of learning, that are for the ornament of a private perſon, are beneath the cares of a crowned head. He was well ſkilled in things of antiquity, could judge of medals whether they had the number of years they pretended unto; his libraries and cabinets were full of thoſe things on which length of time put the value of rari⯑ties. In painting he had ſo excellent a fancy, that he would ſupply the defect of art in the workman, and ſuddenly draw thoſe lines, give thoſe airs and lights, which experience and practice had not taught the painter. He could judge of fortifications, and cenſure whether the cannon were mounted to execution or no. He had an excellent ſkill in guns, knew all that belonged to their making. The exacteſt arts of building ſhips for the moſt neceſſary uſes of ſtrength or good ſailing, together with all their furniture, were not unknown to him. He un⯑derſtood and was pleaſed with the making of ^* clocks and watches. [49] He comprehended the art of printing. There was not any one gentle⯑man of all the three kingdoms that could compare with him in an uni⯑verſality of knowledge. He encouraged all the parts of learning, and he delighted to talk with all kind of artiſts, and with ſo great a facility did apprehend the myſteries of their profeſſions, that he did ſometimes ſay, "He thought he could get his living, if neceſſitated, by any trade he knew of, but making of hangings;" although of theſe he under⯑ſtood much, and was greatly delighted in them; for he brought ſome of the moſt curious workmen from foreign parts to make them here in England." ^*

With regard to his knowledge of pictures, I find the following anec⯑dote from a book called the original and growth of printing by Rich⯑ard Atkyns Eſq "This excellent Prince, ſays that author, who was not only aliquis in omnibus, but ſingularis in omnibus, hearing of rare heads (painted) amongſt ſeveral other pictures brought me from Rome, ſent Sir James Palmer to bring them to Whitehall to him, where were preſent divers picture-drawers and painters. He aſked them all of whoſe hand that was? ſome gueſt at it; others were of another opi⯑nion, but none was poſitive. At laſt ſaid the King, This is of ſuch a man's hand, I know it as well as if I had ſeen him draw it; but, ſaid he, is there but one man's hand in this picture? None did diſcern whether there was or not; but moſt concluded there was but one hand. [50] Said the King, "I am ſure there are two hands have workt in it, for I know the hand that drew the heads, but the hand that did the reſt I never ſaw before." Upon this a gentleman that had been at Rome about ten years before, affirmed that he ſaw this very picture, with the two heads unfiniſhed at that time, and that he heard his brother (who ſtaid there ſome years after him) ſay, that the widow of the painter that drew it wanting money, got the beſt maſter ſhe could find to finiſh it and make it ſaleable." This ſtory which in truth is but a blind one, eſpecially as Mr. Atkyns does not mention even the name of the painter of his own picture, ſeems calculated to prove a fact, of which I have no doubt, his majeſty's knowledge of hands. The gentleman who ſtood by and was ſo long before he recollected ſo circumſtantial a hiſtory of the picture, was, I dare ſay, a very good courtier.

The King is ſaid not only to have loved painting but to have prac⯑ticed it; it is affirmed that Rubens corrected ſome of his ^* majeſty's drawings.

It was immediately after his acceſſion that Charles began to form his collection. The crown was already in poſſeſſſion of ſome good pictures: Henry VIII. had ſeveral. What painters had been here had added others. Prince Henry, as I have ſaid, had begun a ſeperate collection both of paintings and ſtatues. All theſe Charles aſſembled, and ſent commiſſions into France and Italy to purchaſe more. Croſs ^† was diſ⯑patched into Spain to copy the works of Titian there: and no doubt [51] as ſoon as the royal taſte was known, many were brought over and offered to ſale at court. The miniſters and nobility were not back⯑ward with preſents of the ſame nature. Various are the accounts of the jewels and bawbles preſented to magnificent Elizabeth. In the ca⯑talogue of King Charles's collection are recorded the names of ſeveral of the court who ingratiated themſelves by offerings of pictures and curioſities. But the nobleſt addition was made by the King himſelf: He purchaſed at a great ^* price the entire cabinet of the Duke of Mantua, then reckoned the moſt valuable in Europe. But ſeveral of thoſe pictures were ſpoiled by the quickſilver on the frames, owing I ſuppoſe to careleſſneſs in packing them up. Vanderdort, from whom alone we have this account, does not ſpecify all that ſuffered, though in general he is minute even in deſcribing their frames. The liſt, valu⯑able as it is, notwithſtanding all it's blunders, inaccuracy, and bad [52] Engliſh, was I believe never compleated, which might be owing to the ſudden death of the compoſer. There are accounts in MS. of many more pictures, indubitably of that collection, not ſpecified in the printed catalogue.

Now I have mentioned this perſon, Vanderdort, it will not be for⯑eign to the purpoſe to give ſome little account of him, eſpecially as to him we owe, ^* however mangled, the only record of that Royal Mu⯑ſeum.

Abraham Vanderdort, a Dutchman, had worked for the Emperor Rodolphus, whoſe ſervice he left we do not know on what occaſion. He brought away with him a buſt of a woman modelled in wax as large as the life, which he had begun for that monarch, but Prince Henry was ſo ſtruck with it, that though the Emperor wrote ſeveral times for it, the young Prince would neither part with the work nor the workman, telling him he would give him as good entertainment as any Emperor would—and indeed Vanderdort ſeems to have made no bad bargain. He parted with the buſt to the Prince upon condition, that as ſoon as the cabinet, then building from a deſign of Inigo Jones, ſhould be finiſhed, he ſhould be made keeper of his Royal Highneſs's medals with a ſalary of 50l. a year; ^† a contract voided by the death

[53] of the Prince. However, upon the acceſſion of King Charles, Vander⯑dort was immediately retained in his ſervice with a ſalary of 40l. a year, and appointed keeper of the cabinet. This room was erected about the middle of Whitehall, running acroſs from the Thames to⯑wards the banquetting-houſe, and fronting weſtward to the privy⯑garden. ^* Several warrants for payments to Vanderdort as follow are extant in Rymer, and among the Conway papers; one of the latter is ſingular indeed, and ſhows in what favour he ſtood with his royal maſter.

"The ſecond day of April 1625, at St. James. His majeſty was pleaſed by my Lord Duke of Buckingham's meanes to ſend for Sir Edward Villiers, warden of his majeſties mint, as alſo for his owne ſer⯑vant Abraham Vanderdoort, where his majeſty did command in the preſence of the ſaid Lord Duke and Sir Edward Villiers that the ſaid Abraham Vanderdoort ſhould make patterns for his majeſties coynes, and alſo give his aſſiſtance to the ingravers and his furtherance that the ſame may be well engraven according to their abilities. For which he deſireth a warrant with an annual fee of 40l. a year, whereby it may appear that it was his majeſties pleaſure to appoint him for that ſervice." Conway papers. At the bottom of this paper is this entry, "It is his majeſty's pleaſure that the clerk of his majeſties ſignett for the tyme being doe cauſe a booke to be prepared fitt for his majeſties ſignature of the office, with the annuitie or fee beforementioned to be paid out of the exchequer duringe his life."

The patent itſelf is in Rymer. ^†

"A warrant under the ſignet to the officers of his majeſty's houſ⯑hold [54] for the allowance of five ſhillings and ſix-pence by the day unto Abraham Vanderdoorte for his boorde wages, to begyne from Chriſt⯑maſs laſt and to contynue during his life. By order of the Lord Con⯑way and by him procured. March 24, 1625." ^*

"Docquett. 11^o. Junii, 1628. A warrant unto Abraham Vander⯑dort for his lyfe of the office of keeper of his majeſties cabynett roome with a penſion of 40l. per annum, and of provider of patternes for the punches and ſtampes for his majeſties coyne in the mynt with the al⯑lowaunce of 40l. per annum for the ſame paiable quarterly out of the exchequer, the firſt payment to begynne at Midſommer next 1628. With further warrant to pay unto him the ſeveral arrearage of 120l. 100l. and of 10l. due unto him upon privy ſeales for and in reſpect of his imployment in the ſaid office and place which are to bee ſurrender⯑ed before this paſſe the greate ſeale. His majeſties pleaſure ſignyfied by the Lord Viſcount Conway and by him procured. Subſcribed by Mr. Sollicitor Generall."

"To Mr. Attorney; Junii 17, 1628. Sir, his majeſtie is pleaſed to make uſe of the ſervice of his ſervaunt Abraham Vanderdoort, to make patternes for his majeſties coynes, and give his aſſiſtance and further⯑ance to the ingravers for the well makinge of the ſtamps; and for his paines therein to give him an allowance of 40l. per ann. duringe plea⯑ſure. To which purpoſe you will be pleaſed to draw a bill for his ma⯑jeſties ſignature. ^†

"Docquett. 11^o. Octobr. 1628. A letter to Sir Adam Newton Knight and Baronett, receaver generall of his majeſties revenue whileſt he was Prince, to pay unto Abraham Vanderdort for the keeping of his [55] majeſties cabinett room at St. James's, and other ſervice the ſome of 130l. in arreare due unto him for the ſaid ſervice from our Lady-day 1625, 'till Midſommer 1628; procured by Lord Viſcount Conway."

The next is the extraordinary paper I mentioned; it ſhows at once how far the royal authority in that age thought it had a right to extend, and how low it condeſcended to extend itſelf.

"Docquett. 28 November. 1628. A letter to Louyſa Cole, the re⯑lict of James Cole, in favour of Abraham Vanderdort his majeſties ſervant, recommending him to her in the way of marriage. Procured by the Lord Viſcount Conway."

What was the ſucceſs of this royal interpoſition ^* I no where find. Vanderdort, in his catalogue, ^† mentions preſents made by him to the King, of a book of prints by Albert Durer, of a head in plaiſter of Charles V. and of the arm of the King of Denmark, ^‡ modelled from the life. It is certain that the poor man had great gratitude to or great awe of Charles I. The King had recommended to him to take particular care of a miniature by Gibſon, the parable of the loſt ſheep. Vanderdort laid it up ſo carefully, that when the King aſked him for it, he could not find it, and hanged himſelf in deſpair. ^‖ After his [56] death his executors found and reſtored it. As this piece is not men⯑tioned in the catalogue, probably it was newly purchaſed. There is an admirable head of Vanderdort by Dobſon at ^* Houghton.

The King who ſpared neither favours, nor money, to enrich his collection, invited ^† Albano into England by a letter written with his own hand. It ſucceeded no more than a like attempt of the Duke of Buckingham to draw Carlo Maratti hither. Carlo ^‡ had drawn for that Duke the portraits of a Prince and Princeſs of Brunſwic, but ex⯑cuſed himſelf from obeying the ſummons, by pleading that he had not ſtudied long enough in Rome, and was not yet worthy of painting for [57] the King. Simon Vouet, an admired French painter, who while very young had been ſent over in 1604 to draw the portrait of ſome lady of great rank retired hither from Paris, was invited by King Charles with promiſe of great rewards to return to England, but declined the offer. ^* His majeſty was deſirous too of having ſomething of the hand of Ber⯑nini. Vandyck drew in one piece the full face and the three quarter face and the profile of the King, from which Bernini made a buſt, that was conſumed or ſtolen in the fire of Whitehall. ^† It was on [58] ſeeing this picture that Bernini pronounced, as is well known, that there was ſomething unfortunate in the countenance of Charles. The ſame artiſt made a buſt too of Mr. Baker, who carried the picture to Rome. The Duke of Kent's father bought the latter buſt at Sir Pe⯑ter Lely's ſale; it is now in the poſſeſſion of Lord Royſton, and was reckoned preferable to that of the King. The hair is in prodigious quantity and incomparably looſe and free; the point-band very fine. Mr. Baker paid Bernini an hundred broad pieces for his, but for the King's Bernini received a thouſand Roman crowns. The King was ſo pleaſed with his own, that he deſired to have one of the Queen too; but that was prevented by the war. ^*

Among the Strafford papers is an evidence of this Prince's affection for his pictures: In a ^† letter from Mr. Garrard, dated November 9, 1637, ſpeaking of two maſks that were to be exhibited that winter, he ſays, "A great room is now ^‡ building only for this uſe betwixt the guard-chamber and banquetting-houſe of fir, only weather-boarded and ſlightly covered. At the marriage of the Queen of Bohemia I ſaw one ſet up there but not of that vaſtneſs that this is, which will coſt too [59] much money to be pulled down, and yet down it muſt when the maſks are over."

In another of December 16, the ſame perſon ſays, "Here are two maſks intended this winter; the King is now in practicing his, which ſhall be preſented at Twelfth-tide, moſt of the young Lords about the town, who are good dancers, attend his majeſty in this buſineſs. The other the Queen makes at Shrove-tide, a new houſe being erected in the firſt court at Whitehall, which coſt the King 2500l. only of deal boards, becauſe the King will not have his pictures in the banquetting⯑houſe hurt with lights."

The moſt capital purchaſe made by King Charles were the cartoons of Raphael, now at Hampton-court. They had remained in Flanders from the time that Leo X. ſent them thither to be copied in tapeſtry, the money for the tapeſtry having never been paid. Rubens told the King of them, and where they were, and by his means they were bought.

It may be of uſe to collectors and virtuoſi, for whoſe ſervice this work is compoſed, to know when they meet with the ruins of that royal cabinet, or of the Earl of Arundel's. On the King's pictures was this mark [...] or [...] on his drawings a large ſtar thus [...] on the Earl's a ſmaller. [...]

The dials at Whitehall were erected by the order of Charles, while he was Prince. Mr. Gunter drew the lines, and wrote the deſcription and uſe of them, printed in a ſmall tract by order of King James in 1624. There were five dials; afterwards ſome were made of glaſs in a pyramidal ſhape by Francis Hill, and placed in the ſame garden. One or two of theſe may ſtill be extant; Vertue ſaw them at Buckingham⯑houſe in St. James's park, from whence they were ſold.

[60] It looks as if Charles had had ſome thoughts of erecting a monument for his father. In the lodgings of the warden of New-college Oxford was a mauſoleum with arms, altar-tomb, columns and inſcriptions in honour of that Prince dated 1630. It is certain King Charles had no leſs inclination for architecture than for the other arts. The intended pa⯑lace at Whitehall would have been the moſt truly magnificent and beautifull fabric of any of the kind in Europe. His majeſty did not ſend to Italy and Flanders for architects as he did for Albano and Van⯑dyck: He had Inigo Jones. Under the direction of that genius the King erected the houſe at Greenwich.

Charles had in his ſervice another man, both architect and painter, of whom, though excellent in neither branch, the reader will perhaps not diſlike ſome account, as he was a remarkable perſon and is little known.

Sir Balthazar Gerbier D'ouvilly of Antwerp, was born about 1591, came young into England, and was a retainer of the Duke of Bucking⯑ham as early as 1613. In Finette's maſter of the ceremonies it is ſaid, "Alonzo Contarini Embaſſador from Venice came to Mr. Gerbier, a gentleman ſerving the Duke of Buckingham." Sanderſon ^* calls him a common penman, who penſiled the dialogue (probably the decalogue) in the Dutch church London, his firſt riſe of preferment." It is cer⯑tain that he ingratiated himſelf much with that favorite and attended him into Spain, where he was even employed in the treaty of marriage, though oſtenſibly acting only in the character of a painter. ^† Among the Harleian MSS. is a letter from the Ducheſs of Buckingham to her

[61] Lord in Spain, "I pray you, if you have any idle time, ^* ſit to Ger⯑bier for your picture that I may have it well done in little." Biſhop Tanner had a MS. catalogue of the Duke's collection drawn up by Gerbier who had been employed by the Duke in ſeveral of the purcha⯑ſes. However there is ſome appearance of his having fallen into diſ⯑grace with his patron. In one of Vertue's MSS. is a paſſage that ſeems to be an extract, though the author is not quoted, in which the Duke treats Gerbier with the higheſt contempt. The tranſcript is ſo obſcure and imperfect, that I ſhall give it in Vertue's own words;

"King James I. ill and dying, the Duke of Buckingham was advi⯑ſed to apply a plaiſter to his ſtomach, which he did with proper advice of doctors, phyſicians of the King. But the King dying, the Duke was blamed—one Egleſham printed a ſcurrilous ^† libel, and flew away into Flanders—I was told by Sir Balthazar Gerbier [though his teſti⯑mony be odious to any man] that Egleſham dealt with him in Flanders for a piece of money [not more than 400 guilders to defray the char⯑ges] [62] to imprint his recantation, of which the Duke bid Gerbier join malice and knavery together, and ſpit their venom 'till they ſplit, and he would pay for printing that alſo."

Nothing can be built upon ſo vague a foundation. It is certain that immediately after the acceſſion of King Charles, Gerbier was employed in Flanders to negotiate privately a treaty with Spain, the very treaty in which Rubens was commiſſioned on the part of the Infanta, and for which end that great painter came to England. Among the Conway⯑papers I found a very curious and long letter from Gerbier himſelf on this occaſion, which though too prolix to inſert in the body of this work, I ſhall affix at the end, not only as pertinent to my ſubject from the part theſe painters had in ſo important a buſineſs, but as it is more particular than any thing I know in print on that occaſion.

Gerbier kept his ground after the death of Buckingham. In 1628 he was knighted at Hampton-court, and, as he ſays himſelf in one of his books, was promiſed by King Charles the office of ſurveyor-general of the works after the death of Inigo Jones.

In 1637 he ſeems to have been employed in ſome other private tranſactions of ſtate, negotiating with the Duke of Orleans, the King's brother, who was diſcontented with the court. The Earl of Leiceſter, Embaſſador to Paris, writes ^* to Mr. Secretary Windebank Nov. 24. "I received a packet from Garbier to Monſieur d d [French King's brother.]

July 13, 1641, he took the oaths of allegiance and ſupremacy, ha⯑ving a bill of naturalization. ^† From that time to the death of the [63] King I find no mention of him, though I do not doubt but a man of ſo ſupple, and intriguing a nature, ſo univerſal an undertaker, did not lie ſtill in times of ſuch dark and buſy complection. However, whe⯑ther miſcarrying or neglected, ^* in 1648 he appears not only in the character of author, but founder of an academy. In that year he pub⯑liſhed a thin quarto, intituled, The interpreter of the academie for for⯑rain languages and all noble ſciences and exerciſes. To all fathers of families and lovers of vertue, the firſt part, by Sir Balthazar Gerbier Knight. Lond. French and Engliſh; with a ^† print of his head in oval and this motto, Heureux qui en Dieu ſe confie. It is a moſt trifling ſuperficial rhapſody, and deſerved the ſarcaſm that Butler paſſed on ſo incompetent ^‡ an attempt: In his fictitious will of Philip Earl of Pem⯑broke that Lord is made to ſay, "All my other ſpeeches, of what co⯑lour ſoever, I give to the academy, to help Sir Balthazar's art of well⯑ſpeaking."

In 1649 he publiſhed the ^‖ firſt lecture of Geography read at Sir Bal⯑thazar Gerbier's academy at Bednal-green; by which it ſeems that at [64] leaſt his inſtitution was opened. This piece I have not ſeen, nor the next, though from Vertue's extract one learns another ſingular anec⯑dote of this projector's hiſtory.

"Sir Balthazar Gerbier's manifeſtation of greater profits to be done in the hot than the cold parts of America. Rotterdam 1660. Where⯑in is ſet forth that he having a commiſſion to go there, ſettle and make enquirys, he went to Cajana (Cayenne) with his family, and ſettled at Surinam. A governor there from the Dutch had orders to ſeize upon him and all his papers and bring him back to Holland, which they did in a very violent manner, breaking into his houſe, killed one of his children, endangered the lives of the reſt of his family, and narrowly eſcaped himſelf with his life, having a piſtol charged at his breaſt if he had reſiſted. They brought him to Holland: He complained, but got no redreſs, the ſtates diſowning they had given any ſuch orders. How⯑ever, it was juſt before the reſtoration, and knowing the obligations he had to England, they apprehended he might give the King notice of the advantages might be gained by a ſettlement there."

This perhaps was one among the many provocations, which, meet⯑ing his inclinations to France, led Charles II. into his impolitic, though otherwiſe not wholly unjuſtifiable, war with Holland, a people too apt even in their depreſſed ſtate, to hazard barbarous and brutal infraction of treaties and humanity, when a glimpſe of commercial intereſt invites it.

Gerbier probably returned to England with that Prince, for the tri⯑umphal arches erected for his reception, are ſaid to have been deſigned by Sir Balthazar.

In France he publiſhed a book on fortification, and in 1662 at London a ſmall diſcourſe on magnificent buildings, dedicated to the [65] King, in which he principally treats of ſolidity, convenience and orna⯑ment, and glances at ſome errors of Inigo Jones in the banquetting⯑houſe. Here too he mentions a large room built by himſelf near the watergate ^* at York-ſtairs, thirty-five feet ſquare, and ſays, that King Charles I. being in it in 1628 at ſome repreſentation of ſcenery, com⯑mended it, and expreſſed as much ſatisfaction with it as with the ban⯑quetting-houſe. In the piece he propoſes to the Lords and Commons to level the ſtreets, Fleet-bridge and Cheapſide, and erect a ſumptuous gate at Temple-bar, of which he had preſented a draught to his ma⯑jeſty. Before this book is a different print of him with a ribband and a medal, inſcribed C. R. 1653. The medal I ſuppoſe was given him when appointed, as he ſays he was, Maſter of the Ceremonies to Charles I.

His portrait in one piece with Sir Charles Cotterel and Dobſon, painted by the latter, is at Northumberland-houſe; Gerbier has been miſtaken in that picture for Inigo Jones. This piece was bought for 44l. at the ſale of Betterton, the player.

Gerbier's laſt piece is a ſmall manual, intituled, Counſel and Advice to all builders, &c. London 1663. A full half of this little piece is waſted on dedications, of which there are no fewer than forty, and which he excuſes by the example of Antonio Perez. They are ad⯑dreſſed to the Queen-mother, Duke of York, and moſt of the principal Nobility and Courtiers. The laſt is to his own diſciple Captain Wil⯑liam Wind. There is a heap of a kind of various knowledge even in theſe dedications, and ſome curious things, as well as in the book itſelf, particularly the prices of work and of all materials for building at that time. In one place he ridicules the heads of lions, which are creeping [66] through the pilaſters on the houſes in Great Queen-ſtreet built by Webb, the ſcholar of Inigo Jones.

Hempſted-marſhal, the ſeat of Lord Craven, ſince deſtroyed by fire, was the laſt production of Gerbier. He gave the deſigns for it, and died there in 1667 while it was ^* building, and was buried in the chancel of that church. The houſe was finiſhed under the direction of Cap⯑tain Wind above-mentioned.

In the library of Secretary Pepys at Magdalen-college Cambridge, is a miſcellaneous collection in French, of robes, manteaux, couronnes, armes, &c. d'Empereurs, Rois, Papes, Princes, Ducs et Comtes, an⯑ciens et modernes, blazonnès et enluminès par Balthazar Gerbier.

Among the Harleian MSS. N^o. 3384, is one, intituled, Sir Baltha⯑zar Gerbier, his admonitions and diſputes with his three daughters, re⯑tired into the Engliſh nunnery at Paris, 1646.

The late Prince of Wales hearing of a capital picture by Vandyck in Holland, to which various names of Engliſh families were given, as Sir Balthazar Arundel, Sir Melchior Arundel, Sir Balthazar Bucking⯑ham, or Sheffield, the laſt of which gained moſt credit from a reſem⯑blance in the arms, his Royal Highneſs gave a commiſſion to purchaſe it, and it was brought to Leiceſter-houſe. It appeared that a celebrated piece, for which Lord Burlington had bid 500l. at Lord Radnor's ſale, and which Mr. Scawen ^† bought at a ſtill greater price was the ſame with this picture, but not ſo large nor containing ſo many figures. Mr. Scawen's had always paſſed for a miſtreſs and children of the Duke of Buckingham; but Vertue diſcovered on that of the Prince of Wales [67] an almoſt effaced inſcription, written by Vandyck's own hand, with theſe words remaining, La famille de Balthazar—Chevalier; and he ſhowed the Prince that the arms on a flower-pot were the ſame with thoſe on two different prints of Gerbier, and alluſive to his name, viz. a chevron between three garbs or ſheafs. There is a group of children on the right hand, very inferior to the reſt of the compoſition, and cer⯑tainly not by Vandyck. The little girl leaning on the mother's knee was originally painted by Rubens in a ſeparate piece, formerly belong⯑ing to Richardſon the painter, ſince that to General Skelton and Capt. William Hamilton, and now in the collection of the Lord Viſcount Spenſer. It is finer than the large picture—but it is time to return to King Charles.

The academy erected by Gerbier was probably imitated from one eſtabliſhed by Charles I. in the eleventh year of his reign and called Muſeum Minervae. The patent of erection is ſtill extant in the office of the rolls. None but who could prove themſelves gentlemen were to be admitted to education there, where they were to be inſtructed in arts and ſciences, foreign languages, mathematics, painting, architec⯑ture, riding, fortification, antiquities and the ſcience of medals. Pro⯑feſſors were appointed, and Sir Francis Kingſton, ^* in whoſe houſe in Covent-garden the academy was held, was named regent. There is a ſmall account of the deſign of this academy, with it's rules and orders, printed in 1636. ^† But it fell to the ground with the reſt of the King's [68] plans and attempts—and ſo great was the inveteracy to him, that it ſeems to have become part of the religion of the time to war on the arts, becauſe they had been countenanced at court. The parliament began to ſell the pictures at York-houſe ſo early as 1645, but leſt the neceſſity of their affairs ſhould not be thought ſufficient juſtification, they coloured it over with a piece of fanatic bigotry that was perfectly ridiculous; paſſing the following votes among others July 23. ^*

Ordered, that all ſuch pictures and ſtatues there (York-houſe) as are without any ſuperſtition, ſhall be forthwith ſold, for the benefit of Ire⯑land and the North.

Ordered, that all ſuch pictures there, as have the repreſentation of the ſecond perſon in trinity upon them, ſhall be forthwith burnt.

Ordered, that all ſuch pictures there, as have the repreſentation of the Virgin Mary upon them, ſhall be forthwith burnt.

This was a worthy contraſt to Archbiſhop Laud, who made a ſtar⯑chamber-buſineſs of a man who broke ſome painted glaſs in the cathe⯑dral at Saliſbury. The cauſe of liberty was then, and is always, the only cauſe that can excuſe a civil war: yet if Laud had not doated on trifles, and the preſbyterians been ſqueamiſh about them, I queſtion whether the nobler motives would have had ſufficient influence to ſave us from arbitrary power. They are the ſlighteſt objects that make the [69] deepeſt impreſſion on the people. They ſeldom fight for a liberty of doing what they have a right to do, but becauſe they are prohibited or enjoined ſome folly that they have or have not a mind to do. One co⯑mical inſtance of the humour of thoſe times I find in Aubrey's hiſtory of Surrey; ^* one Bleeſe was hired for half-a-crown a day to break the painted glaſs windows of the church of Croydon. The man probably took care not to be too expeditious in the deſtruction.

Immediately after the death ^† of the King, ſeveral votes were paſſed for ſale of his goods, pictures, ſtatues, &c.

Feb. 20, 1648. It was referred to the committee of the navy to raiſe money by ſale of the crown, jewels, hangings, and other goods of the late King.

Two days after, Cromwell, who, as ſoon as he was poſſeſſed of the ſole power, ſtopped any farther ^‡ diſperſion of the royal collection, and [70] who even in this trifling inſtance gave an indication of his views, re⯑ported from the council of ſtate, that divers goods belonging to the ſtate were in danger of being embezzled; which notification was im⯑mediately followed by this order;

That the care of the public library at St. James's and of the ſtatues and pictures there, be committed to the council of ſtate, to be preſerved by them.

However, in the enſuing month, ^* the houſe proceeded to vote, that the perſonal eſtate ^† of the late King, Queen and Prince ſhould be inven⯑toried, appraiſed and ſold, except ſuch parcels of them as ſhould be thought fit to be reſerved for the uſe of the ſtate; and it was referred [71] to the council of ſtate to conſider and direct, what parcels of the goods and perſonal eſtates aforeſaid were fit to be reſerved for the uſe of the ſtate. Certain commiſſioners were at the ſame time appointed to in⯑ventory, ſecure and appraiſe the ſaid goods, and others, not members of the houſe, were appointed to make ſale of the ſaid eſtates to the beſt va⯑lue. The receipts were to go towards ſatisfying the debts and ſervants of the King, Queen and Prince, provided ſuch ſervants had not been delinquents; the reſt to be applied to public uſes; the firſt thirty thou⯑ſand pounds to be appropriated to the navy. This vote in which they ſeem to have acted honeſtly, not allowing their own members to be con⯑cerned in the ſale, was the cauſe that the collection fell into a variety of low hands, and were diſperſed among the painters and officers of the late King's houſhold, where many of them remained on ſale with low prices affixed. The principal pieces were rated more highly, and ſome of them were even ſold above their valuation.

Ireton on the 2d of June 1648 reported the act for ſale, and mention is made of ſome propoſition of Captain Myldmay concerning the pic⯑tures and ſtatues, to be referred to the council of ſtate. This propoſal it ſeems had been accepted but was revoked. Probably this perſon might be an agent of Cromwell to prevent the diſperſion. Cromwell had greater matters to attend to; the ſale proceeded. Two years after⯑wards, viz. in October and November 1650, the journals ſpeak of ſums of money received from the ſale of the King's goods, and of various applications of the money towards diſcharge of his debts. From that time I find no farther mention of the collection in the records.

With regard to the jewels, the parliament immediately after the King's death ordered the crown and ſceptres, &c. to be locked up. [72] The Queen had already ſold ſeveral jewels abroad to raiſe money and buy arms, Some had been ſold in foreign countries early in the King's reign, particularly what was called the ineſtimable collar of rubies; ^* it had belonged to Henry VIII. and appears on his pictures and on a medal of him in Evelyn. His George, diamond and ſeales, which Charles at his execution deſtined to his ſucceſſor, the parliament voted ſhould not be ſo delivered. A pearl which he always wore in his ear, as may be ſeen in his portrait on horſeback by Vandyck, was taken out after his death, and is in the collection of the Ducheſs of Portland, at⯑teſted by the hand-writing of his daughter the Princeſs of Orange, and was given to the Earl of Portland by King William. ^†

[73] A catalogue of the pictures, ſtatues, goods, tapeſtries and jewels, with the ſeveral prices at which they were valued and ſold, was diſco⯑vered ſome years ago in Moorfields, and fell into the hands of the late Sir John Stanley, who permitted Mr. Vicechamberlain Cook, Mr. Fair⯑fax and Mr. Kent to take copies, from one of which Vertue obtained a tranſcript. The particulars are too numerous to inſert here. The total of the contracts amounted to 118080l.—10s.—2d. Thirty one pages at the beginning relating to the plate and jewels were wanting, and other pages here and there were miſſing. Large quantities were undoubtedly ſecreted and embezzled, and part remained unſold by the acceſſion of Cromwell, who lived both at Whitehall and Hampton-court. All other furniture from all the King's palaces was brought up and expoſed to ſale; there are ſpecified particularly Denmark or So⯑merſet-houſe, Greenwich, ^* Whitehall, Nonſuch, Oatlands, Windſor, Wimbleton-houſe, St. James's, Hampton-court, Richmond, Theo⯑bald's, [74] Ludlow, Cariſbrook and Kenelworth caſtles; Bewdley-houſe, Holdenby-houſe, Royſton, Newmarket, and Woodſtock manor-houſe. One may eaſily imagine that ſuch a collection of pictures, with the re⯑mains of jewels and plate, and the furniture of nineteen palaces ought to have amounted to a far greater ſum than an hundred and eighteen thouſand pounds. ^*

The ſale continued to Auguſt 9, 1653. The prices were fixed, but if more was offered, the higheſt bidder purchaſed; this happened in ſome inſtances, not in many. Part of the goods were ſold by inch of candle. The buyers, called contractors, ſigned a writing for the ſeve⯑ral ſums. If they diſliked the bargain, they were at liberty to be diſ⯑charged from the agreement on paying one fourth of the ſum ſtipu⯑lated. Among the purchaſers of ſtatues and pictures were ſeveral painters, as Decritz, Wright, Baptiſt Van Leemput, Sir Balthazar Ger⯑bier, &c. The prices of the moſt remarkable lots were as follows: The cartoons of Raphael, 300l. bought by his Highneſs (Cromwell.) The royal family (now in the gallery at Kenſington) 150l. The King on horſeback (in the ſame place) 200l. The triumphs of Julius Caeſar by Andrea Mantegna (now at Hampton-court) 1000l. Twelve Caeſars by Titian, 1200l. The muſes by Tintoret, (at Kenſington) valued at 80l. ſold for 100l. Alexander VI. and Caeſar Borgia by Titian, 100l. Triumph of Veſpaſian and Titus by Julio Romano (at Paris) 150l. The great piece of the Nativity by Julio Romano, 500l. It ſeems the act for deſtroying what they called ſuperſtitious pieces was not [75] well obſerved. Two pieces of tapeſtry of the five ſenſes by Sir Francis Crane, 270l. Mention is made of two ſets more ancient, of the landing of Henry VII. and the ^* marriage of Prince Arthur. From Windſor a picture of Edward III. with a green curtain before it, 4l. Mary, Chriſt, and many Angels dancing by Vandyck, valued only at 40l. This is the picture at Houghton, for which my father gave 800l. it was twice ſold before for above 1000l. whence I conclude there was ſome knavery in the valuation of it. Sleeping Venus by Correggio, 1000l. Mary, Child and St. Jerome, by Parmegiano, 150l. The Venus del Pardo by Titian, valued at 500l. ſold for 600l. Marquis del Guaſto haranguing his ſoldiers by Titian, 250l. Venus dreſſing by the Gra⯑ces, Guido (at Kenſington) 200l. Herodias with the head of St. John, by Titian, 150l. (with his Highneſs.) The little Madonna and Chriſt by Raphael, 800l. St. George by Raphael, 150l. Marquis of Mantua by ditto, 200l. Frobenius and Eraſmus by Holbein, 200l. Our Lady, Chriſt and others by Old Palma, 200l. A man in black by Holbein, 120l. St. John by Leonardo da Vinci, 140l. Duke of Bucks and his brother by Vandyck, (now at Kenſington) valued at 30l. ſold for 50l. This is one of the fineſt pictures of that maſter. A Satyr flayed by Correggio, 1000l. Mercury teaching Cupid to read, Venus ſtanding by, by Correggio, 800l. The King's head by Bernini, 800l. A ſtatue of Tiberius larger than life, 500l. The Gladiator in braſs (now at Houghton) 300l. Chriſt waſhing the feet of his diſciples, 300l.

[76] Among the contractors appears Mr. John Leigh, who on Auguſt 1, 1649, buys goods for the uſe of Lieutenant-general Cromwell to the value of 109l.—5s.—0d. and on the 15th are ſold to the Right hon, the Lady Cromwell goods to the amount of two hundred pounds more. But no ſooner was Cromwell in poſſeſſion of the ſole power, than he not only prevented any farther ſale, but even detained from the purchaſers much of what they had contracted for. This appears by a ^* petition, addreſſed, after the protector's death, to the council of ſtate, by major Edward Baſs, Emanuel de Critz, William Latham, and Henry Willet in behalf of themſelves and divers others, in which they repreſent,

"That in the year 1651, the petitioners did buy of the contractors for the ſale of the late King's goods, the ſeveral parcels there under⯑named, and did accordingly make ſatisfaction unto the Treaſurer for the ſame. But for as much as the ſaid goods are in Whitehall, and ſome part thereof in Mr. Kinnerſley's cuſtody in keeping, the petition⯑ers do humbly deſire their honour's order, whereby they may receive the ſaid goods, they having been great ſufferers by the late General Cromwell's detaining thereof; and the petitioners, &c."

The goods ſpecified are hangings, and ſtatues in the garden at Whitehall. It is very remarkable that in this piece they ſtyle the Pro⯑tector, the late General Cromwell.

Whence Charles had his ſtatues we learn from Peacham; "The King alſo, ſays he, ever ſince his coming to the crown hath amply teſtified a royal liking of ancient ſtatues, by cauſing a whole army of old foreign Emperors, Captains and Senators all at once to land on his coaſts, to come and do him homage, and attend him in palaces of [77] St. James's and Somerſet-houſe. A great part of theſe belonged to the late Duke of Mantua; and ſome of the old Greek marble baſes, columns, and altars were brought from the ruins of Apollo's temple at Delos, by that noble and abſolutely compleat gentleman Sir Kenelm Digby Knight." ^*

Some of the moſt capital pictures were purchaſed by the King of Spain, which arriving there while the Embaſſadors of Charles II. were at that court, they were deſired, by an odd kind of delicacy, to with⯑draw, they ſuppoſing that this diſmiſſion was owing to an account re⯑ceived at the ſame time of Cromwell's victory over the Marquis of Argyle; "but, ſays Lord Clarendon, ^† they knew afterwards that the true cauſe of this impatience to get rid of them, was that their miniſter in England, having purchaſed many of the King's pictures and rich furniture, had ſent them to the Groyne; from whence they were ex⯑pected to arrive about that time at Madrid; which they thought could not decently be brought to the palace while the ambaſſadors remain⯑ed at the court."

After the reſtoration endeavours were uſed to reaſſemble the ſpoils. A commiſſion was iſſued out to examine Hugh Peters concerning the diſpoſal of the pictures, jewels, &c. that had belonged to the royal fa⯑mily, but without effect, by the obſtinacy or ignorance of Peters, who would not or could not give the deſired ſatisfaction. ^‡ Some of the pic⯑tures had been purchaſed by Gerard Reyntz, ^‖ a Dutch collector, after whoſe death they were bought of his widow by the ſtates and preſented [78] to Charles II. One only picture [the King on horſeback by Vandyck] was recovered by a proceſs at law from Remèe or Remigius Van Leemput, a painter then in England, who had bought it at the ſale.

Notwithſtanding the havoc that had been made, it is plain from the catalogue of the collection of James II. that the crown ſtill poſſeſſed a great number of valuable pictures, but the fire of Whitehall deſtroyed almoſt all that the rage of civil war had ſpared. Some valuable pieces indeed were carried to Liſbon from Somerſet-houſe by the Queen Dowager, when ſhe returned to Portugal. The then Lord Chamber⯑lain, it is ſaid, put a ſtop to their embarkation, 'till mollified by the preſent of one of them that he admired.

The royal library eſcaped better: This was founded by James I. It contained the collection belonging to the crown, among which were ſe⯑veral fine editions on vellom, ſent as preſents from abroad, on the re⯑ſtoration of learning, to Henry VII. Henry VIII. and Queen Eliza⯑beth; the library of the Lord Lumley, purchaſed by James for Prince Henry, the collection of Caſaubon bought of his widow, and ſome cu⯑rious MSS. brought from Conſtantinople by Sir Thomas Roe. Theſe books have been given to the Britiſh Muſeum by his late majeſty. To this library Prince Henry had added a large number of coins, medals, cameos and intaglias, the Dactyliotheca of Gorlaeus. Mr. Young, li⯑brarian to Charles I. ^* was removed by the council of ſtate in 1649, at which time an account of the books and coins was taken; of the latter there were 1200, of which 400 only remained at the reſtoration. Among the Duke of Ormond's letters is one dated April 2, 1649, [79] where he ſays, "All the rarities in the King's library at St. James's are vaniſhed." Yet it is evident many remained, for in June 1659 a Vote paſſed "that the Lord Whitlocke be deſired and authorized to take upon him the care and cuſtody of the library at James-houſe, and of all the books, manuſcripts and medals, that are in or belonging to the ſaid library, that the ſame be ſafely kept and preſerved, and to recover all ſuch as have been embezzled or taken out of the ſame." Charles II. after his return ordered Aſhmole ^* to draw up an account of the medals that were left, and placed them in the cloſet of Henry VIII. at Whitehall, where they were loſt at the fire.

What farther relates to Charles I. as protector of the arts, will be found in the ſubſequent pages, under the articles of the different pro⯑feſſors whom he countenanced. If this chapter has not been thought tedious and too circumſtantial, the readers who excuſe it, will not per⯑haps be ſorry if I add a little more to it on that other patron of genius, the Earl of Arundel.

^† Thomas Howard Earl of Arundel is ſufficiently known in his pub⯑lic character by that admirable portrait drawn of him by Lord Claren⯑don. Living much within himſelf, but in all the ſtate of the ancient [80] nobility, his chief amuſement was his collection, the very ruins of which are ornaments now to ſeveral principal cabinets. He was the firſt who profeſſedly began to collect in this country, and led the way to Prince Henry, King Charles, and the Duke of Buckingham. "I cannot, ſays Peacham, ^* but with much reverence mention the every way Right Honorable Thomas Howard Lord High Marſhal of Eng⯑land, as great for his noble patronage of arts and ancient learning, as for his high birth and place; to whoſe ^† liberal charges and magnifi⯑cence this angle of the world oweth the firſt ſight of Greek and Ro⯑man ſtatues, with whoſe admired preſence he began to honour the gar⯑dens and galleries of Arundel-houſe about twenty ^‡ years ago, and hath ever ſince continued to tranſplant old Greece into England." The perſon chiefly employed by the Earl in theſe reſearches was Mr. Petty. It appears from Sir Thomas Roe's letters, who had a commiſſion of the like nature from the Duke of Buckingham, ^‖ that no man was ever better qualified for ſuch an employment than Mr. Petty; "He en⯑counters, [81] ſays Sir Thomas, ^* all accidents with unwearied patience, eats with Greeks on their work-days, lies with fiſhermen on planks, is all things that may obtain his ends." Mr. Petty returning with his collection from Samos, narrowly eſcaped with his life in a great ſtorm, but loſt all his curioſities, and was impriſoned for a ſpy, but obtaining his liberty purſued his ſearches.

Many curious pieces of painting and antiquities, eſpecially medals, the Earl bought of Henry Vanderborcht a painter of Bruſſels, who lived at Frankendal, and whoſe ſon Henry, Lord Arundel finding at Frankfort, ſent to Mr. Petty then collecting for him in Italy, and af⯑terwards kept in his ſervice as long as he lived. Vanderborcht the younger was both painter and graver; he drew many of the Arunde⯑lian curioſities, and etched ſeveral things both in that and the royal collection. A book of his drawings from the former, containing 567 pieces, is preſerved at Paris, and is deſcribed in the catalogue of L'oran⯑gerie p. 199. After the death of the Earl, the younger Henry entered into the ſervice of the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles II. and li⯑ved in eſteem in London for a conſiderable time, but returned to Ant⯑werp and died there. ^† There are prints by Hollar of both father and ſon; the former done from a painting of the latter.

The Earl was not a meer ſelfiſh virtuoſo; he was bountifull to men of talents, retaining ſome in his ſervice, and liberal to all. ^‡ He was [82] one of the firſt who diſcovered the genius of Inigo Jones, ^* and was himſelf, ſays Lilly, ^† the firſt who "brought over the new way of building with brick in the city, greatly to the ſafety of the city, and preſervation of the wood of this nation." Norgate whom I have men⯑tioned partook of his favours. On his ^‡ embaſſy to Vienna he found Hollar at Prague and brought him over, where the latter engraved a great number of plates from pictures, drawings and curioſities in the Arundelian collection. There is a ſet of ſmall prints by Hollar, views of Albury, the Earl's ſeat in Surrey. "Lord Arundel thought, ^‖ ſays Evelyn, that one who could not deſign a little, would never make an honeſt man." A fooliſh obſervation enough, and which, if he had not left better proofs, would give one as little opinion of the judgment of the ſpeaker, as it does of that of the relator. The Earl ſeems to have had in his ſervice another painter, one Harriſon, now only known to us by a chronologic diary, in which he records particulars relating to old Parr, whom Lord Arundel had a curioſity to ſee. ^§

At the beginning of the troubles the Earl tranſported himſelf and [83] his collection to Antwerp, and dying not long after at Padua, he di⯑vided his perſonal eſtate between his ſons Henry Lord Maltravers, and Sir William Howard Viſcount Stafford. Of what came to the eldeſt branch, ſince Dukes of Norfolk, the moſt valuable part fell into the hands of the Ducheſs who was divorced; the ſtatues ſhe ſold ^* to the laſt Earl of Pomfret's father, which have been lately given by the Counteſs Dowager to the univerſity of Oxford, which had before been enriched with thoſe curious records called the Arundelian marbles: The cameos and intaglias the Ducheſs of Norfolk bequeathed to her ſecond huſband Sir John Germayne: They ^† are now in the poſſeſſion of his widow Lady Elizabeth Germayne. ^‡ Among them is that inimi⯑table cameo, the marriage of Cupid and Pſyche, which I ſhould not ſcruple to pronounce the fineſt remain of antique ſculpture in that kind. The coins and medals came into the poſſeſſion of Thomas Earl of Winchelſea, and in 1696 were ſold by his executors to Mr. Thomas Hall. Arundel-houſe was pulled down in 1678. The re⯑mainder of the collection was preſerved at Tarthall, without the gate of St. James's park near Buckingham-houſe. Thoſe curioſities too were ſold by auction in 1720, ^‖ and the houſe itſelf has been lately demo⯑liſhed. [84] At that ſale Dr. Meade bought the head of Homer, ^* after whoſe death it was purchaſed by the preſent Earl of Exeter, and by him preſented to the Britiſh Muſeum. It is believed to have been brought from Conſtantinople, and to have been the head of the very ſtatue in the imperial palace deſcribed by Cedrenus. The reſt of the figure was melted in the fire. The Earl of Arundel had tried to pro⯑cure the obeliſk, ſince erected in the Piazza Navona at Rome; and he offered the value of 7000l. in money or land to the Duke of Bucking⯑ham for a capital picture of Titian called the Ecce homo, in which were introduced the portraits of the Pope, Charles V. and Solyman the magnificent.

The Earl has been painted by Rubens and Vandyck. The preſent Duke of Argyle has a fine head of him by the former. By the latter he was drawn in armour with his grandſon Cardinal Howard. The Earl had deſigned too to have a large picture, like that at Wilton, of himſelf and family: Vandyck actually made the deſign, but by the in⯑tervention of the troubles it was executed only in ſmall by Ph. Frutiers at Antwerp, from whence Vertue engraved a plate. The Earl and Counteſs are ſitting under a ſtate; before them are their children, one holds a ſhield ^† preſented by the great Duke of Tuſcany to the famous Earl of Surrey at a tournament, and two others bring the helmet and ſword of James IV. taken at the victory of Floddenfield, by the Earl [85] of Surrey's father, Thomas Duke of Norfolk. Portraits of both thoſe noblemen are repreſented as hanging up near the canopy.

I will conclude this article and chapter with mentioning that Fran⯑ciſcus Junius ^* was taken by the Earl of Arundel for his librarian, and lived in his family thirty years. The Earl had purchaſed part of the library of the Kings of Hungary from Pirkeymerus; Henry Duke of Norfolk, by perſuaſion of Mr. Evelyn, beſtowed it on the Royal Society. ^†

ANECDOTES of PAINTING, &c.
CHAP. III.
Painters in the Reign of CHARLES I.

Sir PETER PAUL RUBENS.

ONE cannot write the life of Rubens without tranſcribing twenty authors. The moſt common books expatiate on a painter, whoſe works are ſo numerous and ſo well known. His pic⯑tures were equally adapted to pleaſe the ignorant and the conoiſſeurs. Familiar ſubjects, familiar hiſtories, treated with great luſtre and full⯑neſs of colouring, a richneſs of nature and propriety of draperies, re⯑commend themſelves at firſt ſight to the eyes of the vulgar. The juſt boldneſs of his drawing, the wonderfull chiaro ſcuro diffuſed through⯑out his pictures, and not loaded like Rembrandt's to force out one pe⯑culiar ſpot of light, the variety of his carnations, the fidelity to the cuſ⯑toms and manners of the times he was repreſenting, and attention to every part of his compoſitions, without enforcing trifles too much or too much neglecting them, all this union of happy excellencies endear the works of Rubens to the beſt judges: he is perhaps the ſingle artiſt who attracts the ſuffrages of every rank. One may juſtly call him the

[87] popular painter; he wanted that majeſty and grace which confine the works of the greateſt maſters to the feweſt admirers. I ſhall be but brief on the circumſtances of his life; he ſtaid but little here, in which light only he belongs to this treatiſe.

^* His father was doctor of laws and ſenator of Antwerp, which he quitted on the troubles of that country and retired with his family to Cologn, where on the feaſt of St. Peter and Paul his wife was delivered of Rubens in 1577. Great care was taken of his education; he learned and ſpoke Latin in perfection. When Antwerp was reduced by the arms of Philip, Rubens the father returned to his native country. The ſon was grown up, and was well made. The Counteſs of Lalain took him for her page, but he had too elevated a diſpoſition to throw away his talents on ſo diſſipated a way of life. He quitted that ſervice, and his father being dead, his mother conſented to let him purſue his paſſion for painting. Toby Verhaeſt, a landſcape-painter, and Adam Van Oort were his firſt maſters, and then Otho Venius, under whom he imbibed (one of his leaſt merits) a taſte for allegory. The perplexed and ſilly emblems of Venius are well known. Rubens with nobler ſim⯑plicity is perhaps leſs juſt in his. One may call ſome of his pictures a toleration of all religions. In one of the compartments of the Luxem⯑burgh gallery, a cardinal introduces Mercury to Mary de' Medici, and Hymen ſupports her train at the ſacrament of marriage, before an al⯑tar on which are the images of God the Father and Chriſt. ^† At the age of twenty-three Rubens ſet out for Italy, and entered into the ſer⯑vice of Vincent Gonzaga Duke of Mantua. One day while he was at [88] that court, and was painting the ſtory of Turnus and Aeneas, intend⯑ing to warm his imagination by the rapture of poetry, he repeated with energy thoſe lines of Virgil. ^* ‘Ille etiam patriis agmen ciet, &c.’ The Duke who over heard him and entered the chamber, was ſurpriz⯑ed to find the mind of his painter cultivated with a variety of gracefull litterature. Rubens was named Envoy to Spain, and carried magnifi⯑cent preſents to the favorite Duke of Lerma; exerting at that court his political and elegant talents with a dignity and propriety that raiſed the latter without debaſing the former. He converſed little with the painters of that country except Velaſquez, with whom he continued a correſpondence of letters.

The fame of the young painter reached Don John of Braganza, af⯑terwards King of Portugal, who invited him to Villa Vicioſa. Rubens ſet out with ſuch a train, that the Duke apprehended the expence of entertaining ſo pompous a viſitor, and wrote to ſtop his journey, ac⯑companying the excuſe with a preſent of fifty piſtoles. The painter refuſed the preſent, ſaid he had not propoſed to paint, but to paſs a week at Villa Vicioſa, and had brought a thouſand piſtoles that he in⯑tended to ſpend there.

Returned to Mantua, the Duke ſent him to Rome to copy the works of the great maſters. There he ſtudied them, not what they had ſtudied, the ancients; Rubens was too careleſs of the antique as Pouſſin copied it too ſervilely. The former ſeemed never to have ſeen a ſtatue, the latter nothing elſe. The reputation of Titian and Paul [89] Veroneſe drew Rubens to Venice; there he was in his element, in the empire of colours. There he learned to imitate nature; at Rome he had miſſed the art of improving on it. If he has not the ſimplicity of Titian, he has far more than Paul Veroneſe. The buildings with which he has enriched the back grounds of his compoſitions, do not yield to thoſe of the latter; his landſcapes are at leaſt equal to thoſe of the former. Seldom as he practiced it, Rubens was never greater than in landſcape; the tumble of his rocks and trees, the deep ſhadows in his glades and glooms, the watery ſunſhine, and dewy verdure, ſhow a variety of genius, which are not to be found in the inimitable but uniform glow of Claud Lorrain.

Rubens was much worſe employed at Genoa, where he drew moſt of their palaces, and cauſed them to be engraved in two volumes. How could a genius like his overlook the ruins of Rome, the deſigns of Raphael and Michael Angelo, and the reſtorers of ancient architec⯑ture at Venice, and waſte his time on the very moderate beauties that he found at Genoa, where their greateſt art lay in crowding magnifi⯑cence into a narrow and almoſt uſeleſs ſituation? where moſt of their palaces can only be ſeen from a ſedan chair!

His mother's illneſs drew him back to Antwerp, where the Arch⯑duke Albert detained him, and where he married his firſt wife Eliza⯑beth Brants. He built a palace and painted it within and without. His cabinet or rotunda was enriched with antique vaſes, ſtatues, me⯑dals and pictures. The Duke of Buckingham ſaw and coveted it. Le Blond, whom I have mentioned in the life of Holbein, negotiated the bargain, to which Rubens conſented with regret. The favorite, who was bent on the purchaſe, gave, it is ſaid, ten thouſand pounds for what had not coſt above a thouſand.

[90] In Flanders he executed many great works, which created him as many enemies. They affected to aſcribe to the ſcholars whom he had formed or been forced to take to aſſiſt him, as Jordaens, Van Uden, Snyder, and Wildens, the merits of the maſter—but the greater the talents of the aſſiſtants, the higher the genius of the maſter. Do able painters work under an indifferent one? Abraham Janſſens challenged Rubens to a trial of their art; Rubens replied he would engage with him, when Janſſens had proved himſelf worthy to be his competitor. A more friendly offer was rejected by him with equal wit. A chymiſt tendered him a ſhare of his laboratory and of his hopes of the philoſo⯑pher's ſtone. Rubens carried the viſionary into his painting room, and told him his offer was dated twenty years too late, "for ſo long it is, ſaid he, ſince I found the art of making gold with my pallet and pen⯑cils."

From Antwerp he was called to Paris by Mary de' Medici, and painted the oſtenſible hiſtory of her life in the Luxemburgh. ^* A pecu⯑liar honour, as that Princeſs was an Italian. It is even ſaid that he gave her ſome leſſons in drawing. If the prodigious number of large pieces painted by Rubens were not teſtimonies of the abundance and facility of his genius, this gallery alone, compleated in three years, would de⯑monſtrate it. As ſoon as it was finiſhed, he returned to Antwerp, where his various talents were ſo conſpicuous, that he was pitched upon to negotiate a treaty of peace between Spain and England. The In⯑fanta Iſabella ſent him to Madrid for inſtructions, where he ingratiated [91] himſelf ſo much with the Conde-Due D'olivarez, that beſides many valuable preſents, he had a brevet for himſelf and his ſon of ſecretary of the Privy-council, and was diſmiſſed with a ſecret commiſſion to King Charles, as I have mentioned before, in which he had the honour of ſucceeding.

Neither Charles nor Rubens overlooked in the Embaſſador the ta⯑lents of the Painter. The King engaged him to paint the cieling of the Banquetting-houſe. The deſign is the apotheoſis of King James, for whom, when once deified, there ſeems to have been no farther thought of erecting a monument. The original ſketch for the middle compartment is preſerved at Houghton: It had belonged to Sir God⯑frey Kneller, who often ſtudied it, as is evident by Sir Godfrey's ori⯑ginal ſketch, at Houghton too, for the great equeſtrian picture of King William at Hampton-court, though in the larger piece he ſeems to have forgot that he ever had ſtudied the former deſign. Sir Godfrey had heard that Jordaens aſſiſted Rubens in the execution; if true, ſome of the compartments muſt have been painted in Holland and ſent over hither, for I do not find that Jordaens was ever in England. Rubens received three thouſand pounds for his work. The building itſelf coſt ſeventeen thouſand pounds. What had it been, if compleat⯑ed! Vandyck was to have painted the ſides with the hiſtory of the or⯑der of the garter. Inigo Jones, Rubens, and Vandyck! Europe could not have ſhown a nobler chamber. Kent in the late reign repaired the painting on the cieling.

During his reſidence here Rubens painted for the King a St. George, ^* four feet high and ſeven feet wide. His majeſty was repre⯑ſented [92] in the Saint, the Queen in Cleodelinde; each figure one foot and half high; at a diſtance a view of Richmond and the Thames. In another picture the benefits of peace and miſeries of war. ^*

Theodore Rogiers ^† modelled for the King a ſilver ewer deſigned by Rubens, with the judgment of Paris. There is a print from this vaſe by James Neffs.

This great painter was knighted at Whitehall Feb. 21, 1630, and the King gave him an addition to his arms, on a dexter canton, gules, a lion paſſant, or.

A large print from his picture of the deſcent from the croſs, engra⯑ved by Voſterman in 1620, is thus dedicated, Illuſtriſſimo, excellentiſ⯑ſimo et prudentiſſimo domino, domino Dudleio Carleton equiti, mag⯑nae Britanniae regis ad confaederatos in Belgio ordines legato, pictoriae artis egregio ^‡ admiratori, P. P. Rubens, gratitudinis et benevolentiae ergo, nuncupat, dedicat.

We have in England ſeveral capital works of Rubens. Villiers Duke of Buckingham had thirteen, and Sir Peter Lely five. ^‖ The [93] Ducheſs of Marlborough gave any price for his pictures. They ^* are the firſt ornaments of Blenheim but have ſuffered by neglect. At Wil⯑ton are two; one, the Aſſumption of the Virgin, painted for the Earl of Arundel while Rubens was in England, and with which he was ſo pleaſed himſelf, that he afterwards made a large picture from it for a convent at Antwerp. The other contains four children, Chriſt, an Angel, St. John, and a girl repreſenting the church. This picture which is far ſuperior to the foregoing, and very fine, is ſaid in the ca⯑talogue to be allowed to be the beſt picture in England of Rubens; an hyperbole indeed. ^† At the Earl of Pomfret's at Eaſton was a portrait of Lodowic Duke of Richmond and Lenox. At Houghton is that maſterly piece, Mary Magdalen anointing the feet of Chriſt; and a large cartoon of Meleager and Atalanta. There too are three pieces in three different ſtyles, in each of which he excelled, a landſcape; and ſatyrs; and lions. Animals, eſpecially of the ſavage kind, he painted beyond any maſter that ever lived. In his ſatyrs, though highly co⯑loured and with characteriſtic countenances, he wanted poetic imagina⯑tion. They do not ſeem a ſeperate ſpecies, but a compound of the human and animal, in which each part is kept too diſtinct. His fe⯑male ſatyrs are ſcarce more indelicate than his women; one would think that, like Swift, he did not intend that Yahoos ſhould be too diſ⯑criminate from human nature; though what the ſatyrist drew from ſpleen, flowed in the painter from an honeſt love of fleſh and blood. There are beſides in Lord Orford's collection the ſketches for the Car⯑dinal Infant's entry into Antwerp, the family of Rubens by his ſcholar [94] Jordaens, and his ſecond wife Helena Forman, a celebrated whole length by Vandyck.

The fine picture of St. Martin the late Prince of Wales bought of Mr. Bagnol, who brought it from Spain. It is remarkable that in this piece Rubens has borrowed the head of an old man from the cripple in one of the cartoons, of which I have ſaid he gave informa⯑tion to King Charles, who purchaſed them. At Lord Spencer's at Wimbleton is a fine portrait of Cardinal Howard. At Burleigh is an Ebony Cabinet the front and Sides of which are painted by Rubens; at one End are his three Wives, highly coloured.

I do not find how long Rubens ſtayed in England, probably not above a year. He died of the gout in his own country in 1640. A catalogue of his works may be ſeen in Deſcamps. ^*

Mr. Maurice Johnſon of Spalding in Lincolnſhire, a great antiqua⯑rian, produced to the Society of Antiquaries ſome years ago a MS. containing diſcourſes and obſervations on human bodies, and on the ſtatues and paintings of the ancients and moderns, written partly in Latin, partly in Italian, and ſome notes in Dutch, and illuſtrated with ſeveral drawings, as heads, attitudes, proportions, &c. habits of Greeks and Romans, various inſtruments, utenſils, armour, and head-dreſſes from coins and ſtatues, and compariſons of Raphael, Michael Angelo and others. It was an octavo pocket-book, and appeared to be an exact copy of Rubens's Album, which he uſed in his travels; the drawings, and even hand-writing and different inks being exactly imi⯑tated [95] This book was brought from Bruſſels by Capt. Johnſon, Mr. Johnſon's ſon, and had one leaf of the original in it, with a ſketch of the head of the Farneſian Hercules. The original itſelf is at Paris, where they intended to publiſh it. An account of it is given in the catalogue raiſonnè de monſieur Quintin de L'orangerie, par Frederic Gerſaint, 1744.

ABRAHAM DIEPENBECK,

among the various ſcholars of Rubens, was one of the few that came to England, where he was much employed by William Cavendiſh Duke of Newcaſtle, whoſe managed horſes he drew from the life, from whence were engraved the cuts that adorn that Peer's book of horſe⯑manſhip. Several of the original pictures ſtill remain in the hall at Welbeck. Diepenbeck drew views of the Duke's ſeats in Nottingham⯑ſhire and Derbyſhire, and portraits of the Duke, Ducheſs, and his chil⯑dren, and gave deſigns for ſeveral plates prefixed to the works of both their Graces. "Diepenbeck, ſays De Piles, was born at Boiſleduc, and in his youth was much employed in painting upon glaſs, ^* and en⯑tering afterwards into the ſchool of Rubens, became one of his beſt diſciples." Several prints were made from his works, particularly thoſe he deſigned for a book, called, The Temple of the Muſes, en⯑graved by Bloemart and Mattham in 1663, ^† and his portraits of Leſ⯑ſius and Bellarmine by Bolſvert, ^‡ and of Sir Hugh Cartwright 1656 by Voſterman.

[96]Sir ANTONY VANDYCK,

whoſe works are ſo frequent in England that the generality of our peo⯑ple can ſcarce avoid thinking him their countryman, was born at Ant⯑werp in 1598, the only ſon of a merchant, and of a mother, who was admired for painting flowers in ſmall, and for her needleworks in ſilk. Vandyck was firſt placed with Van Balen, who had ſtudied at Rome, and painted figures both in large and ſmall; but the fame of Rubens drew away to a nobler ſchool the young congenial artiſt. The pro⯑greſs of the diſciple ſpeedily raiſed him to the glory of aſſiſting in the works from which he learned. Fame that always ſuppoſes jealouſy is felt where there are grounds for it, attributes to Rubens an envy of which his liberal nature I believe was incapable, and makes him adviſe Vandyck to apply himſelf chiefly to portraits. I ſhall ſhow that jea⯑louſy, at leaſt emulation, is rather to be aſcribed to the ſcholar than to the maſter. If Rubens gave the advice in queſtion, he gave it with rea⯑ſon; not maliciouſly. Vandyck had a peculiar genius for portraits; his draperies ^* are finiſhed with a minuteneſs of truth not demanded in hiſtoric compoſitions; beſides his invention was cold and tame, nor does he any where ſeem to have had much idea of the paſſions, and their expreſſion: Portraits require none. If Rubens had been jealous of Vandyck, would he, as all their biographers agree he did, perſuade him to viſit Italy, whence himſelf had drawn his greateſt lights? Ad⯑diſon did not adviſe Pope to tranſlate Homer, but aſſiſted Tickell in a rival tranſlation. Vandyck after making preſents to Rubens of two or

[97] three hiſtories, and the famous portrait of the latter's wife, ſet out for Italy, and made his firſt reſidence at Genoa. From thence he went to Venice, which one may call the metropolis of the Flemiſh painters, who ſeem ſo naturally addicted to colouring, that even in Italy they ſee only with Flemiſh eyes. Vandyck imbibed ſo deeply the tints of Titian, that he is allowed to approach nearer to the carnations of that maſter even than Rubens; Sir Anthony had more delicacy than the latter, but like him never reached the grace and dignity of the antique. He ſeldom even arrived at beauty. His Madonnas are homely; his ladies ſo little flattered, that one is ſurprized he had ſo much cuſtom. He has left us to wonder that the famous Counteſs of Carliſle could be thought ſo charming; and had not Waller been a better painter, Sa⯑chariſſa would make little impreſſion now. One excellence he had, which no portrait-painter ever attained except Sir Godfrey Kneller; the hands are often the fineſt part of his pictures.

He went to Rome and lived ſplendidly, avoiding the low converſa⯑tion of his countrymen, and diſtinguiſhed by the appellation of the Pittore Cavaliereſco. It was at Rome he drew that capital portrait of Cardinal Bentivoglio, who having been Nuncio in Flanders, had a par⯑tiality for their artiſts, and as he celebrated their hiſtory with his pen, was in return almoſt immortalized by one of their beſt pencils.

Vandyck, while at Rome, received an invitation to Palermo, and went thither. There he painted Prince Philibert of Savoy, the Vice-Roy, and a paintreſs of ſome name, ^* Sophoniſba Anguiſciola, then at the age of ninety-one. But the plague ſoon drove him from Sicily; [98] he returned to Genoa, where he had gained the higheſt reputation, and where he has left many conſiderable works.

He went back to Antwerp, and practiced both hiſtory and portrait. Of the former kind were many applauded Altar-pieces; in the latter, were particularly the heads of his cotemporary artiſts. He drew them in Chiaro ſcuro on ſmall pannels, thirty-five of which are in the collec⯑tion of the Counteſs of Cardigan at Whitehall. Admirable is the va⯑riety of attitudes and airs of heads; but in thoſe pieces he meaned to ſurpaſs as well as record. The whole collection has been thrice publiſhed; the firſt edition by Vanden Enden contains fourſcore plates; the ſecond by Giles Hendrix, one hundred; the laſt by Verduſſen, who effaced the names and letters of the original engravers. Some of the plates were etched by Vandyck himſelf. I ſay nothing of the numbers of prints from his other works.

Hearing of the favour King Charles ſhowed to the arts, Vandyck came to England, and lodged with his friend Geldorp, a painter, hoping to be introduced to the King; it is extraordinary he was not. He went away chagrined; but his majeſty ſoon learning what a trea⯑ſure had been within his reach, ordered Sir Kenelm Digby, who had ſat to Vandyck, to invite him over. He came, and was lodged among the King's artiſts at Black-fryars, which Felibien, according to the dignity of ignorance which the French affect, calls L'Hotel de Blaifore. ^* Thither the King went often by water, and viewed his performances with ſingular delight, frequently ſitting to him himſelf, and beſpeaking pictures of the Queen, his children and his courtiers, and conferring the [99] honour of knighthood ^* on him at St. James's July 5, 1632. This was ſoon attended by the grant of an annuity of 200l. a year for life. The patent is preſerved in the rolls, and dated 1633, in which he is ſtyled painter to his majeſty. I have already mentioned the jealouſy of Mytens on this occaſion.

Of the various portraits by Vandyck of King Charles, the principal are, a whole length in the coronation robes at Hampton-court; ^† the head has been engraved by Vertue among the Kings of England. Ano⯑ther in armour on a dun horſe at Blenheim. ^‡ A whole length in armour at Houghton. Another, a large piece at the Duke of Grafton's, in which the King (a moſt gracefull figure) in white ſattin, with his hat on, is juſt deſcended from his horſe; at a diſtance, a view of the Iſle of Wight. The ^‖ King in armour on a white horſe, Monſ. de St. Antoine, ^§ his equerry, holding his helmet. The head of the latter is fine; the King's is probably not an original. This and the following are at each end of the gallery at Kenſington. The King and Queen ſitting, Prince Charles, [100] very young ſtanding at his knee; the Duke of York, an infant, on hers. ^* At Turin is another whole length of the King, in a large piece of ar⯑chitecture. At Somerſet-houſe, the King and Queen, half lengths, holding a crown of laurel between them. At Windſor is a beautifull half length of the Queen in white. Many portraits of her pretend to be by Vandyck, but none are ſo lovely as this. He two or three times drew Prince Charles in armour ſtanding. At Kenſington in one piece are Prince Charles, Prince James, and the Princeſs Mary; lately en⯑graved by Strange. In the ſame palace is one of his fineſt works; George Villiers, the ſecond Duke of Buckingham, and Lord Francis his brother, when children. Nothing can exceed the nature, luſtre, and delicacy of this ſweet picture. At Houghton are two young daughters of the Lord Wharton, admirable too, but rather inferior to the foregoing. In Lord Orford's collection are ſeveral principal works ^† of this maſter. The holy family with a dance of Angels; it belonged to King Charles, is a capital picture, but has it's faults. Inigo Jones, a head; Rubens's wife in black ſattin; Henry Danvers Earl of Danby whole length, in the robes of the garter; and a half length of Sir Thomas Chaloner, governor of Prince Henry. Beſides theſe my fa⯑ther bought of the laſt Duke the whole collection of the Wharton fa⯑mily: There were twelve whole lengths, the two girls, ſix half lengths, and two more by Sir Peter Lely; he paid an hundred pounds each for the whole lengths and the double picture, and fifty pounds each for the half lengths. Moſt of them were carried to Houghton, but ſome not ſuiting the places, were brought back, and ſold for a trifle after the death of my father. Thoſe that remain, are, King Charles, the [101] Queen, very indifferent, Sir Thomas Wharton: Of the half lengths, Laud, a celebrated but not very fine picture; Sir Chriſtopher Wandeſ⯑ford, Lady Wharton, Mrs. Wharton, Mrs. Wenman and the Lely's. ^*

At Cornbury, the ſeat of the Earls of Clarendon in Oxfordſhire, was a noble collection of portraits of the principal perſons in the reign of King Charles, many of which were drawn by Vandyck. The collec⯑tion has ſince been divided between the Ducheſs of Queenſberry, Lady Hyde and Lady Mary Forbes, the heireſſes of the family. Several others of his works are at the Earl of Denbigh's and at Lord Spenſer's at Althrop. Among the latter, a celebrated double whole length of the firſt Duke of Bedford and the famous Lord Digby, afterwards Earl of Briſtol. The whole figure of the latter is good, and both the heads fine; the body of Bedford is flat, nor is this one of his capital works. Here too is a good picture of Daedalus and Icarus; half lengths; a fine ſurly impatience in the young man, and his body well coloured. The Duke of Devonſhire has ſome good pictures by him; at Chiſwick is the well known ^† Beliſarius, though very doubtfull if by the hand of Vandyck. The expreſſive figure of the young ſoldier re⯑deems this picture from the condemnation it would deſerve by the prin⯑cipal [102] figure being ſo mean and inconſiderable. The Duke has Van⯑dyck's travelling pocket-book in which are ſeveral sketches, particu⯑larly from Titian, and of Sophoniſba Anguiſciola, mentioned above.

At Holkham is a large equeſtrian picture of a Count D'Aremberg; both the rider and horſe are in his beſt manner; and at Earl Cowper's a large piece of John Count of Naſſau and his family, lately engraved by Baron.

Mr. Skinner, with the collection of the late Mr. Thomas Walker, has a fine little picture of the Lady Venetia Digby, wife of Sir Kenelm; though only a model for the large one at Windſor; it is exquiſitely fi⯑niſhed. She is repreſented as treading on Envy and Malice, and is unhurt by a ſerpent that twines round her arm. This galant compli⯑ment is a little explained in the new life of Lord Clarendon, who men⯑tions Sir Kenelm's marriage with a Lady, "though of an extraordinary beauty, of as extraordinary fame." ^* Mr. Walker's collection was chiefly choſen for him by a ſet of virtuoſi called Vandyck's or the club of St. Luke, and it is plain from the pictures they recommended, that they underſtood what they profeſſed. There was another large piece of Sir Kenelm, his lady and two children, in the collection of the Earl [103] of Oxford; and a fine half length of Sir Kenelm alone is at Kenſington. Vandyck painted too for the King a twelfth Roman Emperor, to com⯑pleat the ſet of Titian, in the room of one which was ſpoiled and left at Mantua. They coſt the King 100l. a piece, and after his death were bought by the Spaniſh Embaſſador, the firſt purchaſer of thoſe effects. As the King's collection was embezzled or taken by his ſer⯑vants for their arrears, that miniſter laid out 500l. in thoſe purchaſes with Harriſon (poſſibly the perſon mentioned p. 75.) the King's em⯑broiderer by Somerſet-houſe, and of Murray his taylor he bought a half figure of a Venus. ^* The Flemings gave any price for the works of Vandyck from that collection. Sir Peter Lely, as may be ſeen in his catalogue, had ſeveral capital ones.

But it is at the Earl of Pembroke's at Wilton that Vandyck is on his throne. The great Salon is entirely furniſhed by his hand. There is that principal picture of Earl Philip and his family, which though damaged, would ſerve alone as a ſchool of this maſter. Yet with great admiration of him I cannot but obſerve how ſhort he falls of his model [104] Titian. What heads both of age and youth are in the family of Cornaro at Northumberland-houſe! How happily is the diſpoſition of a religious act choſen to throw expreſſion into a groupe of portraits! It is ſaid that the Earl of Pembroke had obtained leave to have a piece of the whole royal family by the ſame hand as a companion to his own.

At Leiceſter-houſe is a double portrait, bought by the late Prince of Wales of Mr. Bagnols. It repreſents two of the wits of that time, T. Carew, of the privy-chamber to Charles I. and a poet, and Henry Killigrew. They had a remarkable diſpute before Mrs. Cecilia Crofts, ſiſter of the Lord Crofts, to which Vertue ſuppoſed this picture allu⯑ded, as in a play called the Wanderer, was a ſong againſt jealouſy, written on the ſame occaſion.

I have reſerved to the laſt ^* the mention of the fineſt picture in my opinion of this maſter. It is of the Earl of Strafford and his ſecretary, at the Marquis of Rockingham's at Wentworth-houſe in Yorkſhire. I can forgive him any inſipid portraits of perhaps inſipid people, when he ſhowed himſelf capable of conceiving and tranſmitting the idea of the greateſt man of the age. There is another of theſe pictures at Blenheim, but infinitely inferior.

In the cathedral of Gloceſter are two cumbent figures of an alder⯑man and his wife, evidently wrought from a deſign of Vandyck. It is great pity the ſculptor is not known, ſo ſucceſsfully has he executed the manner of the painter. The figures, even in that taſteleſs attitude, [105] are eaſy and gracefull, and the draperies have a peculiar freedom. ^*

Vandyck had 40l. for a half, and 60l. for a whole length; a more rational proportion than that of our preſent painters, who receive an equal price for the moſt inſignificant part of the picture.

He was indefatigable, ^† and keeping a great table, often detained the perſons who ſat to him, to dinner, for an opportunity of ſtudying their countenances, and of retouching their pictures again in the after⯑noon. Sir Peter Lely told Mrs. Beale, that Laniere aſſured him he had ſat ſeven entire days to him morning and evening, and that, notwith⯑ſtanding, Vandyck would not once let him look at the picture, 'till he was content with it himſelf. This was the portrait that determined the King to invite him to England a ſecond time. ^‡

In the ſummer he lived at Eltham in Kent; in an old houſe there, ſaid to have been his, Vertue ſaw ſeveral ſketches of ſtories from Ovid in two colours, aſcribed to him.

At the Duke of Grafton's is a fine half length of ^‖ Vandyck by him⯑ſelf, when young, holding up his arm, the hand declined. There is a print of it, and of two others of him, older; one looking over his ſhoulder, the other with a ſun-flower. At Hampton-court in the apart⯑ment [106] below is his ^* miſtreſs Mrs. Lemon highly finiſhed. There is a print of the ſame perſon by Hollar, but not from this picture. In the pocket-book of R. Symonds that I have mentioned, he ſays, "It was much wondered at, that he (Vandyck) ſhould openly keep a miſtreſs of his (Mrs. Lemon) in the houſe and yet ſuffer Porter to keep her com⯑pany." This was Endymion Porter, of the bedchamber to King Charles, of whom and his family there was a large piece by Vandyck at Buck⯑ingham-houſe. ^†

He was much addicted to his pleaſures and expence; I have men⯑tioned how well he lived. He was fond of muſick and generous to muſicians. His luxurious and ſedentary life brought on the gout, and hurt his fortune. He ſought to repair it, not like his maſter by the la⯑boratory of his painting room, but by that real folly, the purſuit of the Philoſopher's ſtone, in which perhaps he was encouraged by the ex⯑ample or advice of his friend Sir Kenelm Digby. Towards the end of his life the King beſtowed on him for a wife, Mary the daughter of the unfortunate Lord Gowry, which if meaned as a ſignal honour, might be calculated too to depreſs the diſgraced family by connecting them with the blood of a painter. It is certain that the alliance does not ſeem to have attached Vandyck more ſtrongly to the King; whether he had any diſguſts infuſed into him by his new wife, or whether ambitious, [107] as I have hinted, of vying with the glory of his maſter in the Luxem⯑burg, Sir Antony ſoon after his marriage ſet out for Paris, in hopes, of being employed there in ſome public work. He was diſappointed ^* —their own Pouſſin was then deſervedly the favorite at that court. Vandyck returned to England, and in the ſame humour of executing ſome public work, and that in competition with his maſter. He pro⯑poſed to the King by Sir Kenelm Digby to paint the walls of the ban⯑quetting-houſe, of which the cieling was already adorned by Rubens, with the hiſtory and proceſſion of the order of the garter. The propoſal ſtruck the King's taſte, and by a ſmall ſketch ^† in chiaro ſcuro for the proceſſion, in which, though very faint, ſome portraits are diſtinguiſha⯑ble, it looks as if it had been accepted, though ſome ſay it was rejected, on the extravagant price demanded by Vandyck: I would not ſpecify the ſum, it is ſo improbable, if I did not find it repeated in Fenton's notes on Waller. It was fourſcore thouſand pounds! The civil war prevented farther thoughts of it, as the death of Vandyck would have interrupted the execution, at leaſt the completion of it. He died in Black-fryars December 9, 1641, and was buried on the 11th in St. Paul's near the tomb of John of Gaunt.

By Maria Ruthven his wife, he left one daughter married to Mr. Stepney, a gentleman who rode in the horſe-guards on their firſt eſtabliſhment by Charles II. Their grandſon Mr. Stepney was Envoy to ſeveral courts, and is known by his poems publiſhed in the collection of the works of our minor poets. Sir John Stepney, another deſcen⯑dent, [108] died on the road from Bath to Wales in 1748. Lady Vandyck the widow was married again to Richard Pryſe ſon of Sir John Pryſe of Newton-Aberbecham in Montgomeryſhire Knight. Richard, who was created a Baronet Auguſt 9, 1641, was firſt married to Heſther, daughter of Sir Hugh Middleton; by Vandyck's widow he had no iſſue. ^*

Beſides his legitimate children Vandyck had a natural daughter called Maria Tereſa, to whom, as appears by his will in Doctor's Com⯑mons, he left four thouſand pounds, then in the hands of his ſiſter Suſannah Vandyck in a convent at Antwerp, whom he appoints truſ⯑tee for that daughter. To his ſiſter Iſabella he bequeaths 250 guild⯑ers yearly; and in caſe his daughter Maria Tereſa die unmarried, he entails 4000l. on another ſiſter, married to Mr. Derick, and her chil⯑dren. To his wife Mary and his newborn daughter Juſtiniana Anna he gives all his goods, effects and monies, due to him in England from King Charles, the Nobility, and all other perſons whatever, to be equal⯑ly divided between them. His executors are his wife, Mr. Aurelius de Meghan, and Katherine Cowley, to which Katherine he leaves the care of his daughter to be brought up, allowing ten pounds per ann. 'till ſhe is eighteen years of age. Other legacies he gives to his exe⯑cutors and truſtees for their trouble, and three pounds each to the poor of St. Paul's and St. Anne's Black-friar's, and to each of his ſervants male and female.

The war prevented the punctual execution of his will, the probate of which was not made 'till 1663, when the heirs and executors from abroad and at home aſſembled to ſettle the accounts and recover what [109] debts they could—but with little effect. In 1668, and in 1703, the heirs, with Mr. Carbonnel who had married the daughter of Vandyck's daughter, made farther inſpections into his affairs and demands on his creditors, but what was the iſſue does not appear.

Lady Lempſter, mother of the laſt Earl of Pomfret, who was at Rome with her Lord, wrote a life of Vandyck, with ſome deſcription of his works.

Sir Kenelm Digby in his diſcourſes compares Vandyck and Hoſ⯑kins, and ſays the latter pleaſed the moſt, by painting in little.

Waller has addreſſed a poem to Vandyck, beginning, Rare artiſan; Lord Halifax another on his portrait of Lady Sunderland, printed in the third volume of State Poems, and Cowley wrote an elegy on his death.

Among the ſcholars ^* of Vandyck was ^†

DAVID BECK,

born at Arnheim in 1621; he was in favour with Charles I. and taught the Prince and the Dukes of York and Gloceſter to draw. Deſcamps ſays that Beck's facility in compoſition was ſo great, that [110] Charles I. ſaid to him, "faith! Beck, I believe you cou'd paint riding poſt." ^* He afterwards went to France, Denmark and Sweden, and died in 1656.

GEORGE GELDORP,

of Antwerp, a countryman and friend of Vandyck, in whoſe houſe that painter lodged at his firſt arrival, had been ſettled here ſome time before. He could not draw himſelf, but painted on ſketches made by others, and was in repute even by this artificial practice; ^† though Vertue was told by Mr. Roſe that it was not his moſt lucrative employment, his houſe being reckoned convenient for the intrigues of people of faſhion. He firſt lived in Drury-lane in a large houſe and garden rented from the crown at 30l. per ann. and afterwards in 1653 in Archer-ſtreet. He had been concerned in keeping the King's pictures, and when Sir Peter Lely firſt came over, he worked for Gel⯑dorp, who lived 'till after the reſtoration, and was buried at Weſtmin⯑ster. Another of the apprentices of Geldorp was

ISAAC SAILMAKER

who was employed by Cromwell to take a view of the fleet before Mardyke. A print of the confederate fleet under Sir George Rooke [111] engaging the French commanded by the Count de Toulouſe, was en⯑graved in 1714 from a deſign of Sailmaker, who lived to the age of eighty-eight, and died June 28, 1721.

[...] BRADSHAW

was another painter in the reign of Charles I. whom I only mention with other obſolete names to lead inquirers to farther diſcoveries. All I find of him is a note from one of the pocket-books of R. Symonds above-mentioned, who ſays, "Pierce in Biſhopgate-ſtreet told me that Bradſhaw is the only man that doth underſtand perſpective of all the painters in London."

B. VAN BASSEN

of Antwerp, was a very neat painter of architecture. In the private apartment below ſtairs at Kenſington are two pictures by him; in one are repreſented Charles I. and his Queen at dinner; in the other the King and Queen of Bohemia, diſtinguiſhed by their initial letters F. and E. The Ducheſs of Portland has a magnificent ^* cabinet of ebony, bought by her father the Earl of Oxford from the Arundelian collec⯑tion at Tart-hall. On each of the drawers is a ſmall hiſtory by Polen⯑burg, and pieces of architecture in the manner of Steenwyck by this Van Baſſen, who muſt not be confounded with the Italian Baſſans, nor with the Baſſanos, who were muſicians to Charles, and of which name there was alſo a herald-painter. The firſt Baſſano, who came hither in [112] the reign of Queen Elizabeth and was related to the Italian painters of that name, ſettled in Eſſex and purchaſed an eſtate, which was ſold in 1714 by the male deſcendent. In the manſion was a portrait of the muſician, holding a baſs-viol. It is now at Narford in Norfolk, the ſeat of the late Sir Andrew Fountain.

CORNELIUS POLENBURG

the ſweet painter of little landſcapes and figures, was born at Utrecht in 1586, and educated under Bloemart, whom he ſoon quitted to tra⯑vel to Italy, as he abandoned, ſay our books, the manner of Elſheimer to ſtudy Raphael—but it is impoſſible to ſay where they find Raphael in Polenburg. The latter formed a ſtyle entirely new, and though preferable to the Flemiſh, unlike any Italian, except in having adorned his landſcapes with ruins. There is a varniſhed ſmoothneſs and finiſh⯑ing in his pictures that makes them always pleaſing, though ſimple and too nearly reſembling one another. The Roman Cardinals were charmed with the neatneſs of his works; ſo was the great Duke, but could not retain him. He returned to Utrecht and pleaſed Rubens who had ſeveral of his performances. King Charles invited him to London, where he lived in Archer-ſtreet next door to Geldorp, and ge⯑nerally painted the figures in Steenwyck's perſpectives. There is a very curious picture at Earl Poulet's at Hinton St. George, repreſent⯑ing an inſide view of Theobald's, with figures of the King, Queen, and the two Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery, William and Philip. This piece is probably of Steenwyck, and the figures, ^* which are co⯑pied from Vandyck, either of Polenburg or Van Baſſen.

[]

[]

[113] The works of Polenburg are very ſcarce; ^* his ſcholar, John de Lis of Breda, imitated his manner ſo exactly, that his pieces are often taken for the hand of his maſter. The beſt picture in England of the latter is at the Viſcount Midleton's. I have his own and his wife's portrait by him in ſmall ovals on copper; they were my father's. The wife is ſtiff and Dutch; his own is inimitable: Though worked up to the tender ſmoothneſs of enamel, it has the greateſt freedom of pencil, the happieſt delivery of nature.

Charles could not prevail on Polenburg to fix here: He returned to Utrecht and died there in 1660, at the age of ſeventy-four.

HENRY STEENWYCK

was ſon ^† of the famous painter of architecture, and learned that man⯑ner of his father. I find no particulars of the time of his arrival here, or when he died. It is certain he worked for King Charles. ^‡ The ground to the portrait of that Prince, in the royal palace at Turin, I believe, was painted by him. ^‖ In a MS. catalogue of King Charles's [114] collection is mentioned a perſpective by Steenwyck, with the King and Queen, in little, by Belcamp: In the ſame catalogue is recorded a lit⯑tle book of perſpectives by Steenwyck, which on the ſale of the King's goods ſold for no more than two pounds ten Shillings. Steenwyck's name and the date 1629 are on the picture of Frobenius at Kenſington, which he altered for King Charles. It is the portrait of the ſon, that is among the heads of painters by Vandyck. His ſon Nicholas was in England alſo, painted for King Charles, and probably died here.

JOHN TORRENTIUS

of Amſterdam, is known to have been here, not by his works, but on the authority of Schrevelius, in his hiſtory of Arlem, from whom Deſcamps took his account. Torrentius, ſays the latter, painted admi⯑rably in ſmall, but his ſubjects were not calculated to procure him ma⯑ny avowed admirers. He painted from the lectures of Petronius and Aretine, had the confidence to dogmatize on the ſame ſubjects, and practiced at leaſt what he preached. To profligacy he added impiety, 'till the magiſtrates thought proper to put a ſtop to his boldneſs. He underwent the queſtion, and was condemned to an impriſonment of twenty years; but obtained his liberty by the interceſſion of ſome men of quality, and particularly of the Engliſh Embaſſador—what the name of the latter was we are not told. Torrentius came over to England, but giving more ſcandal than ſatisfaction, he returned to Amſterdam, and remained there concealed 'till his death in 1640, aged [115] fifty-one. King Charles had two pieces of his hand; one repreſenting two glaſſes of Rheniſh; the other, a naked man. ^*

KEIRINCX,

called here Carings, was employed by King Charles to draw views; his works are mentioned in the royal catalogue, particularly proſpects of his majeſty's houſes in Scotland. In a ſale of pictures in March 1745 was a landſcape by him freely and brightly touched, with his name written on it as above, ^† and a few ſmall figures added by Polen⯑burg. In Dagar's ſale were three drawings with a pen and waſhed, by Keirincx; one of them had a view of the parliament-houſe and Weſtminſter ſtairs to the water, dated 1625.

JOHN PRIWITZER

was too good a painter to remain ſo long unknown. At Woburn, beſides ſome young heads of the family, is a whole length of Sir Wil⯑liam Ruſſel, a youth, and Knight of the Bath in the robes of the order, with a dwarf aged thirty-two. It is painted with great brightneſs and neatneſs, and does not want freedom. Upon it is written Johannes [116] Priwitzerus de Hungariâ faciebat 1627. I have never met with any other mention of this name.

GEORGE JAMESONE ^*

was the Vandyck of Scotland, to which title he had a double preten⯑ſion, not only having ſurpaſſed his countrymen as a portrait-painter, but from his works being ſometimes attributed to Sir Antony, who was his fellow-ſcholar; both having ſtudied under Rubens at Ant⯑werp.

Jameſone was ſon of Andrew Jameſone, an architect, and was born at Aberdeen in 1586. At what age he went abroad, or how long he continued there, is not known. After his return, he applied with inde⯑fatigable induſtry to portrait in oil, tho' he ſometimes practiced in mi⯑niature, and in hiſtory and landſcape too. His largeſt portraits ^† were generally ſomewhat leſs than life. His excellence is ſaid to con⯑ſiſt in delicacy and ſoftneſs, with a clear and beautifull colouring, his ſhades not charged, but helped by varniſh, with little appearance of the pencil. There is a print of him, his wife Iſabella Toſh and a young ſon, painted by himſelf in 1623, engraved by Alexander Jame⯑ſone, his deſcendent, in 1728, and now in the poſſeſſion of Mr. John Alexander, limner at Edinburgh his great grandſon, with ſeveral other

[117] portraits of the family, painted by George; particularly another of himſelf in his ſchool, with ſketches both of hiſtory and landſcape, and with portraits of Charles 1ſt. his Queen, Jameſone's wife, and four others of his works from the life.

When King Charles viſited Scotland in 1633, the magiſtrates of Edinburgh, knowing his majeſty's taſte, employed Jameſone to make drawings of the Scottiſh monarchs, with which the King was ſo much pleaſed, that inquiring for the painter, he ſat to him and rewarded him with a diamond ring from his own finger.

It is obſervable that Jameſone always drew himſelf with his hat on, either in imitation of his maſter Rubens, or on having been indulged in that liberty by the King when he ſat to him.

Though moſt of the conſiderable families in Scotland are poſſeſſed of works by this maſter, the greateſt collection of them is at Tay⯑mouth, the ſeat of the Earl of Breadalbane; Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchy, his Lordſhip's anceſtor, having been the chief and earlieſt patron of Jameſone, who had attended that gentleman on his travels. From a MS. on vellom, containing the genealogy of the houſe of Glenorchy, begun in 1598, are taken the following extracts, written in 1635, page 52;

"Item, The ſaid Sir Coline Campbell (8th. Laird of Glenorchy) gave unto George Jameſone, painter in Edinburgh, for King Robert and King David Bruyſſes, Kings of Scotland, and Charles the 1ſt King of Great Brittane France and Ireland, and his Majeſties Quein, and for nine more of the Queins of Scotland their portraits, quhilks are ſet up in the hall of Ballock [now Taymouth] the ſum of tua hundreth thrie ſcor punds."

[118] "Mair the ſaid Sir Coline gave to the ſaid George Jameſone for the Knight of Lockow's Lady, and the firſt Counteſs of Argylle, and ſix of the Ladys of Glenurquhay their portraits, and the ſaid Sir Co⯑line his own portrait, quhilks are ſet up in the chalmer of Deaſs of Bal⯑lock, ane hundreth four ſcoire punds."

Memorandum. In the ſame year 1635 the ſaid George Jameſone painted a large genealogical tree of the family of Glenorchy, 8 feet long and 5 broad, containing in miniature the portraits of Sir Duncan Campbell of Lockow, of Archibald Campbell his eldeſt ſon, firſt Earl of Argylle, and of Sir Coline Campbell his ſecond ſon, firſt Laird of Glenorchy, together with the portraits of eight ſucceſſive Knights, Lairds of Glenorchy, with the branches of their inter-marriages, and of thoſe of their ſons and daughters, beautifully illuminated. At the bottom of which tree the following words are painted on a ſcroll; "The genealogie of the Hous of Glenurquhie, whereof is deſcendit ſundrie nobill and worthie houſes, 1635, [...]ameſone faciebat."

Beſides the foregoing, Lord Breadalbane has at Taymouth, by the ſame hand, eleven portraits of Lords and Ladies of the firſt families in Scotland, painted in 1636 and 1637.

From the extract above, it appears that Jameſone received no more for each of thoſe heads than twenty pounds Scots, or one pound thir⯑teen ſhillings and four-pence Engliſh: Yet it is proved by their pu⯑blick records that he died poſſeſſed of an eaſy fortune, which he left to his three daughters, two of whom were honorably married. One of them, named Mary, diſtinguiſhed herſelf by admirable needlework, a piece of which uſed to be exhibited on feſtivals in the Church of St. Nicholas at Aberdeen. Her deſcendent Mr. Thomſon of Portlethem has an original picture of her father by himſelf. Three ſmall portraits [119] of the houſe of Haddington are in the poſſeſſion of Thomas Hamilton Eſq. of Fala.

Many of Jameſone's works are in both colleges of Aberdeen. The Sibyls there, it is ſaid, he drew from living beauties of that city. Mr. Baird of Auchmedden in Aberdeenſhire has in one piece three young Ladies, couſins, of the houſes of Argyle, Errol and Kinnoul, their ages, ſix, ſeven and eight, as marked on the ſide of the picture. The ſame Gentleman has a ſmall whole length of William Earl of Pem⯑broke, by ſome aſcribed to Vandyck. At Mr. Lindſay's of Worme⯑ſton in Fife is a double half length of two boys, of that family, play⯑ing with a dog, their ages five and three, 1636.

There is a perſpective view of Edinburgh by Jameſone, with a Neptune on the fore ground.

Having finiſhed a fine whole length of Charles I. he expected the magiſtrates of Aberdeen would purchaſe it for their hall, but they of⯑fering him too inconſiderable a price, he ſold it to a gentleman in the north of England.

Jameſone had many ſcholars, particularly Michael Wright, men⯑tioned in the third Volume of theſe Anecdotes. His own portrait is in the Florentine chamber of Painters.

Though Jameſone is little known in England, his character as well as his works were greatly eſteemed in his own country. Arthur John⯑ſton, the Poet, addreſſed to him an elegant Epigram on the picture of the Marchioneſs of Huntley, which may be ſeen in the works of that author printed at Middleburgh in 1642. The portrait itſelf is ex⯑tant in the collection of the Duke of Gordon; and in the Newton-college of Aberdeen is the picture of Doctor Johnſton himſelf by the ſame hand. A Latin Elegy compoſed by David Wedderburn was [120] printed on his death, which happened in 1644 at Edinburgh, where he was interred in the church-yard by the Gray-friars, but without any monument.

By his will, written with his own hand in July 1641, and breathing a ſpirit of much piety and benevolence, he provides kindly for his wife and children, and leaves many legacies to his relations and friends, particularly to Lord Rothes the King's picture from head to foot, and Mary with Martha in one piece: to William Murray he gives the medals in his coffer, makes a handſome proviſion for his natural daughter, and beſtows liberally on the poor. That he ſhould be in a condition to do all this, ſeems extraordinary, his prices having been ſo moderate; for enumerating the debts due to him, he charges Lady Haddington for a whole length of her huſband, and Lady Selon's of the ſame dimenſions, frames and all, but three hundred marks; and Lord Maxwell for his own picture and his Lady's, to their knees, one hundred marks; both ſums of Scots money.

Mr. Jamiſone ^* has likewiſe a memorandum written and ſigned by this Painter, mentioning a MS. in his poſſeſſion, "containing two hun⯑dred leaves of parchment of excellent write adorned with diverſe hi⯑ſtorys of our Saviour curiouſly limned," which he values at two hun⯑dred pounds ſterling, a very large ſum at that time! What is become of that curious book is not known.

WILLIAM DOBSON,

whom King Charles called the Engliſh Tintoret, was born in 1610, in St. Andrew's pariſh in Holbourn; his family had been gentlemen of

[121] good rank at St. Alban's, but having fallen into decay, he was put ap⯑prentice ^* to Sir Robert Peake, whom I have mentioned, a painter and dealer in pictures. Under him, though no excellent performer, but by the advantage of copying ſome pictures of Titian and Vandyck, Dobſon profited ſo much, that a picture he had drawn being expoſed in the window of a ſhop on Snow-hill, Vandyck paſſing by was ſtruck with it, and inquiring for the author, found him at work in a poor garret, from whence he took him and recommended him to the King. On the death of Vandyck, Dobſon was appointed Serjeant-painter, and groom of the privy-chamber, and attended the King to Oxford, and lodged in the high-ſtreet almoſt over againſt St. Mary's church in a houſe where ſome of his works remained 'till of late years. At Oxford his Majeſty, Prince Rupert, and ſeveral of the Nobility ^† ſat to him; but the declenſion of the King's affairs proved fatal to Dobſon; he loved his pleaſures, and not having had time to enrich himſelf, was involved in debts and thrown into priſon, from whence he was deli⯑vered by one Mr. Vaughan of the Exchequer, whoſe picture he drew and thought it the beſt of his portraits. He enjoyed this releaſe but a ſhort time; dying at the age of thirty-ſix, he was buried at St. Martin's October 28, 1646. A ſhort life, in which he had promiſed much ex⯑cellence. His pictures are thought the beſt imitations of Vandyck; they are undoubtedly very faithfull tranſcripts of nature. He painted [122] hiſtory as well as portrait; and even the latter generally containing more than a ſingle figure, riſe almoſt above that denomination.

Of the firſt ſort, is the Decollation of St. John at Wilton. It is in a good ſtyle, but the colouring is raw. The idea of St. John is ſaid to have been taken from the face of Prince Rupert. At Chatſworth is a very particular picture, ſaid to be General Monke, his child, and his miſtreſs, whom he took againſt the conſent of her huſband. The man in armour, undoubtedly reſembles Monke, but the whole piece has the air of a holy family; nor is there any other tradition of any miſtreſs of Monke, but the famous ^* Anne Clarges whom he afterwards mar⯑ried, and who, ſome ſay, was a milliner. There are many inſtances of painters who have deified their miſtreſſes, but the character of the Vir⯑gin Mary was never more proſtituted, than if aſſumed by Anne Clar⯑ges. Mr. Stanley has a picture extremely like this, by [...]. At Albury in Surrey, the ſeat of the Earl of Arundel, was a picture by Dobſon of the woman caught in adultery, with ſeveral figures; the heads taken from perſons then living, among whom was the poet Cowley. At Chippenham, in Cambridgeſhire, formerly the ſeat of Ruſſel Earl of Orford, in one piece are Prince Rupert, Colonel John Ruſſel and Mr. William Murray drinking, and dipping their favour-ribbands in the wine. At Blenheim, is a family, by ſome ſaid to be that of Francis Carter, an architect and ſcholar of Inigo Jones; by others of Lilly the Aſtrologer, whom Vertue thought it reſembled. ^† The man holds a pair of compaſſes. I have ſeen nothing of Dobſon preferable to this; there is the utmoſt truth in it. At Devonſhire-houſe [123] houſe is another family piece of Sir Thomas Brown, author of Reli⯑gio Medici, his wife, two ſons and as many daughters. Mr. Willett, merchant in Thames-ſtreet, has a ſmall family-piece of Dr. Hibbard, phyſician, his wife and five children. The father and mother are par⯑ticularly well painted. A little boy leans on the father's knee, evi⯑dently borrowed from the well-known attitude by Rubens of Sir B. Gerbier's daughter. Two children on the right-hand were certainly added afterwards, and are much inferior to the reſt. The dates were probably inſerted at the ſame time. A whole length of Sir William Compton is in the poſſeſſion of the family. At the Lord Byron's is the portrait of Sir Charles Lucas; and at Drayton in Northampton⯑ſhire, Henry Mordaunt Earl of Peterborough in armour with a page holding his horſe, and an angel giving him his helmet. ^* A head of the Marquis of Montroſe was taken for the hand of Vandyck: in a corner in ſtone colour is a ſtatue of peace, on the other ſide, his helmet. At Mr. Skinner's (Mr. Walker's collection) is a large piece of Prince Charles in armour, drawn about 1638, Mr. Windham, a youth, hold⯑ing his helmet; at bottom are arms and trophies. I have mentioned a fine head of Vanderdort at Houghton. Dobſon's wife, by him, is on the ſtairs of the Aſhmolean muſeum at Oxford; and his own head is at Earl Paulett's; the hands were added long ſince by Gibſon, as he himſelf told Vertue. Charles Duke of Somerſet had a picture of an old man ſitting, and his ſon behind him; on this picture was written the following epigram, publiſhed by John Elſum among his epigrams on [124] painting, a work I have mentioned before, though of no merit but by aſcertaining ſome particular pictures;

At Northumberland-houſe as I have ſaid is a triple portrait, of Sir Charles Cotterel embraced by Dobſon, and Sir Balthazar Gerbier in a white waſtecoat. Sir Charles was a great friend and patron of Dob⯑ſon: At Rouſham in Oxfordſhire, the ſeat of the Cotterels are ſeveral good portraits by him. Sir Charles Cotterel, when at Oxford with the King, was engaged by his majeſty to tranſlate Davila's hiſtory of the civil wars of France; the frontiſpiece deſigned by Sir Charles himſelf, was drawn by Dobſon; it repreſented Francis II. Charles IX. Henry III. and IV. with two dogs, a popiſh and proteſtant cur, fighting be⯑fore them. This ſketch is ſtill preſerved in the family, and in 1729 was engraved in London for the hiſtory of Thuanus. He etched his own portrait. ^†

[]

[125] In a collection of poems called Calanthe is an elegy on our painter.

GERARD HONTHORST,

The favorite painter of the Queen of Bohemia, was born in 1592 at Utrecht, and inſtructed in painting by Bloemart, but he compleated his ſtudies at Rome, where he ſtayed ſeveral years, and painted many things for Prince Juſtiniani, and other works, excelling particularly in night-pieces and candlelights. On his return he married well, and having a fair character, was remarkable for the number of his diſci⯑ples of rank. Sandrart who was one, ſays they were twenty-eight at the ſame time, who each payed him an hundred florins yearly. But his greateſt honour was inſtructing the Queen of Bohemia and her children, ^* among whom the Princeſs ^† Sophia and the Abbeſs of Maubuiſſon chiefly diſtinguiſhed themſelves. King Charles invited [126] him to England where he drew various ^* pictures, particularly one very large emblematic piece, which now hangs on the Queen's ſtair⯑caſe at Hampton-court. Charles and his Queen, as Apollo and Diana, are ſitting in the clouds; the ^† Duke of Buckingham under the figure of Mercury introduces to them the arts and ſciences, while ſeveral genii drive away Envy and Malice. It is not a pleaſing picture, but has the merit of reſembling the dark and unnatural colouring of Guercino. This and other ^‡ things he compleated ^‖ in ſix months, and was re⯑warded with three thouſand florins, a ſervice of ſilver-plate for twelve perſons, and a horſe; and though he returned to Utrecht, he conti⯑nued to paint for the King. It muſt have been during his reſidence here that he drew an admirable half length of Lucy Counteſs of Bed⯑ford now at Woburn: it is painted and finiſhed with the greateſt vi⯑vacity and clearneſs. She is in black, leaning on her hand. Mr. Weſt has the portraits of the Marquiſs of Montroſe, of the Princes Rupert and Maurice with his name written to them thus, Honthorſt. Ano⯑ther of their eldeſt brother Charles Lodowick, Count Palatine, ^§ is dated 1633. A print of Mary de' Medici is inſcribed, G. Honthorſt effigiem pinxit 1633. Rubens was a great admirer of Honthorſt's

[127] night-pieces. The latter worked for the King of Denmark; the cloſe of his life was employed in the ſervice of the Prince of Orange, whoſe houſes at the Hague, Hounſlaerdyck and Reſwick were adorned by his pencil with poetic hiſtories. At the laſt of the three he painted a chamber with the habits, animals and productions of various countries, and received 8000 florins for his labour. He died at the Hague in 1660. Deſcamps in his ſecond volume ſays, that Honthorſt brought to England Joachim Sandrart, his ſcholar, and that the king beſpoke many pictures of him; and that for the Earl of Arundel he copied from Holbein, Henry 8th, Sir T. More, Eraſmus, and ſeveral others; and that he left England and went to Venice in 1627. I find no other authority for this account: not one work of Sandrart is mention⯑ed in K. Charles's collection; and what is more concluſive againſt his having been in England, he takes not the leaſt notice of it himſelf in the life of Honthorſt, tho' he relates his maſter's journey to England and his works here, and calls himſelf one of his diſciples.

JOHN VAN BELCAMP

was employed under Vanderdort as a copyer of the King's ^* pictures, and was reckoned to ſucceed. The whole length of Edward IV. in his night-gown and ſlippers, (the face in profile) which hangs over the chimney in the anti-chamber at St. James's, was painted by Belcamp, the face probably taken from the ancient original. In the catalogue of James II. are mentioned pictures of Edward III. the Black Prince, Anne of Denmark, Louis XIII. and of a large ſtag; Edward III. and [128] the Black Prince are ſtill in an anti-room at St. James's, and that of the King of France is perhaps the portrait now at Hampton-court. At Drayton, the ſeat of the Lady Elizabeth Germain in Northamp⯑tonſhire, are whole lengths of Henry 7th. and 8th. copied by Bel⯑camp from the large picture of Holbein, which was burned at White⯑hall. When King Charles ſecretly withdrew from that palace, in the letter which he left for Colonel Whalley were theſe directions,

"There are here three pictures which are not mine, that I deſire you to reſtore, my wife's picture in blew ſattin ſitting in a chair you muſt ſend to ^* Mrs. Kirk. My eldeſt daughter's picture copied by Belcam to the ^† Counteſs of Angleſey; and my ^‡ Lady Stanhope's picture to

[129] Carey Raleigh. There is a fourth which I had almoſt forgot; it is the original of my eldeſt daughter, it hangs in this chamber over the board near the chimney, which you muſt ſend to my Lady ^* Aubigney." At Wimpole in Cambridgeſhire the ſeat of the Earl of Oxford, which had been Sir Henry Pickering's and before him the ſeat of the Tem⯑peſts, were copies by Belcamp of ſeveral Engliſh heads, remarkable perſons in the reigns of Henry 8th. Elizabeth, James, and Charles 1ſt. but they were all ſold and diſperſed with the reſt of the Harleian col⯑lection.

Belcamp was added by a vote of the Commons June 2, 1649, to the number of truſtees for the ſale of the King's goods; and the directions for the ſale in 1650 are witneſſed by him. In one of the pocket-books of R. Symonds he is ſaid to be lately dead in 1653.

HORATIO GENTILESCHI

a native of Piſa, was diſciple of Aurelio Lomi his half brother. After diſtinguiſhing himſelf at Florence, Rome and Genoa, he went to Savoy, and from thence paſſing into France, was invited over by King Charles, who gave him lodgings and a conſiderable ſalary, and employed him in his palaces, particularly at Greenwich, in painting cielings. Nine pieces, which were in that palace, were ſold after the King's death for 600l. and are now the ornaments of the hall at Marlborough-houſe. [130] He worked too for Villiers ^* Duke of Buckingham, at York-houſe. A ceiling from thence was ſince at the houſe of Sheffield Duke of Buckingham in St. James's park. It repreſented the nine muſes in a large circle. He painted too the family of Villiers, and a large picture for him eight feet wide by five high, of a Magdalen lying in a grotto contemplating a ſkull. At Hampton-court is his Joſeph and Potiphar's wife; he drew other things for the King and preſented him with a book of drawings. Of Lot and his daughters there is a print after him, in which he is called by miſtake Civis Romanus, engraved by Lucas Voſterman. He made ſeveral attempts at portrait painting, but with little ſucceſs, and after reſiding here about twelve years, died at the age of eighty-four, and was buried under the altar in the chapel at Somerſet-houſe. His daughter

ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI

was alſo in England, was reckoned not inferior to her father in hi⯑ſtory, and excelled him in portraits: Her own is in the gallery at Al⯑thorp. King Charles had ſeveral of her works. Her beſt was David with the head of Goliah. She drew ſome of the royal family and many of the nobility—but the chief part of her life was paſſed at Na⯑ples where ſhe lived ſplendidly, and was as famous, ſays Graham, ^† for her amours ^‡ as for her painting.

[131]NICHOLAS LANIERE

was one of thoſe artiſts, whoſe various talents were ſo happy all as to ſuit the taſte of Charles the firſt. Laniere was born in Italy, was a muſician, painter, engraver, and underſtood hands. He had great ſhare in the ^* purchaſes made for the royal collection, ^† and proba⯑bly was even employed in the treaty of Mantua. One picture is ſaid expreſly in the King's catalogue to have been changed with Mr. La⯑niere. His fame was moſt conſiderable as a muſician. In Ben John⯑ſon's works is a maſque performed at the houſe of the Lord Hay in 1617 for the entertainment of the French Embaſſador, the whole maſque after the Italian manner, ſtylo recitativo, by maſter Nicholas Laniere, who ordered and made both ſcenes and muſic. He was em⯑ployed many years afterwards in a very different and more melancho⯑ly manner; a vocal compoſition for a funeral hymn on his royal maſ⯑ter, written by Thomas Pierce, was ſet by Laniere. ^‡ It was in this capacity that he had a ſalary of 200l. a year. The patent is dated July 11, 1626. ^‖ He had beſides the office of cloſet-keeper to the King. As a painter he drew for Charles a picture of Mary, Chriſt and Jo⯑ſeph; [132] his own portrait ^* done by himſelf, with a pallet and pencils in his hand, and muſical notes on a ſcrip of paper, is in the muſic ſchool at Oxford. There is a print of him, painted by John Lÿvÿus, and en⯑engraved by Voſterman, and another portrait of him at the late Sir Andrew Fountain's at Narford in Norfolk. On one of the plates which he etched ^† himſelf, he has put in Italian, done in my youthfull age of 74. At the ſale of the King's goods he gave 230l. for four pictures. His brothers ^‡ Clement and Jerome were likewiſe purcha⯑ſers. In one of R. Symonds's pocket-books is this memorandum,

"When the King's pictures came from Mantua, quickſilver was got in amongſt them and made them all black. Mr. Hieronymo La⯑niere told me that to cleanſe them, firſt he tried faſting ſpittle; then he mixt it with warm milk, and thoſe would not do. At laſt he cleanſed them with aqua-vitae alone, and that took off all the ſpots and he ſays 'twill take off old varniſh." ^‖

Nicholas died at the age of 78, and was buried in St. Martin's Nov. 4, 1646.

[133]FRANCIS WOUTERS

of Lyere, was born in 1614, and bred in the ſchool of Rubens, but chiefly practiced in landſcape, to which he added ſmall naked figures, as Cupids, Nymphs, &c. He was much in favour with the Emperor Ferdinand II. but coming to England with the Embaſſador of that Prince in 1637, his pictures pleaſed at court, and he was made chief painter to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles II. In a MS. ca⯑talogue of King Charles's pictures he is ſaid to have painted a cieling with Hercules and other Gods, in a room there called, the Contractor's room, but in which palace is not ſpecified. ^* On the misfortunes of the royal family he retired to Antwerp, where in 1659 he was ſhot by the accidental diſcharge of a gun. There is an epitaph on him in De Bie's Gulden Cabinet. A large print after Titian, engraved by Hollar in 1650, is dedicated to Wouters.

[...] WEESOP

arrived here in 1641, a little before the death of Vandyck, of whoſe manner he was a lucky imitator, and had the honour of having ſome of his pictures paſs for that maſter's. He left England in 1649, ſaying, "He would never ſtay in a country where they cut off their King's head and were not aſhamed of the action." It had been more ſenſible to ſay, he would not ſtay where they cut off the head of a King that rewarded painters, and defaced and ſold his collection. One John Weeſop, probably his ſon, was buried in St. Martin's in 1652.

[134]JOHN DE CRITZ

has been mentioned in the former volume. Though ſerjeant painter to Charles I. He may more properly be called a retainer to the arts than a profeſſor. His life is to be collected rather from office-books than from his works or his reputation. Yet he was not ignorant. I have two ſketches of heads drawn by him with a pen, that are maſterly. Vertue ſaw many more in the hands of Murray the painter who was ſcholar of a ſon or nephew of De Critz, who, according to Murray, painted bravely ſcenes for maſks. Among thoſe drawings was a ſketch from a picture of ^* Sir Philip Sidney, then at the houſe of De Critz, and now in the poſſeſſion of Lord Cheſterfield. At Oatlands he paint⯑ed a middle piece for a cieling, which on the diſperſion of the King's effects was ſold for 20l. In 1657 he painted the portrait of ſerjeant Maynard with a paper in his hand. In a book belonging to the board of works was a payment to John De Critz for repairing pictures of Palma and the Caeſars of Titian. This was in 1632. Among the annuities and fees payable out of the cuſtoms in the port of London in that reign was a payment to John De Critz his majeſty's ſerjeant⯑painter, for his annuity at 40l. a year due to him for one year ended at Michaelmas 1633. And in a wardrobe account, loſt in the fire in the temple, was this entry. "To John De Critz ſerjeant-painter, for painting and gilding with good gold the body and carriages of [135] two coaches and the carriage of one chariot and other neceſſaries, 179l. 3s. 4d. anno 1634." If this bill ſhould ſeem to debaſe the dignity of ſerjeant painter, it may comfort the profeſſion to know that Solimeni, who was inferior to no painter of any age in vanity, whatever he was in merit, painted a coach for the preſent King of Spain, when King of Naples, which coſt 12000l. Indeed I can produce no precedent of any great maſter who painted and gilded barges, as ſerjeant De Critz ap⯑pears to have done by the following paper, a memorandum in his own hand;

"John De Critz demaundeth allowance for theſe parcells of Worke following, viz. For repayreing, refreſhing, waſhing and varniſhing the whole body of his majeſty's privy barge, ^* and mending with fine gould and faire colours many and divers parts thereof, as about the chaire of ſtate, the doores, and moſt of the antiques about the windowes, that had bene galled and defaced, the two figures at the entrance being moſt new coloured and painted, the Mercury and the lion that are fixed to the ſternes of this and the row barge being in ſeveral places repayred both with gould and colours, as alſo the taffarils on the top of the barge in many parts guilded and ſtrowed with fayre byſe. The two figures of Juſtice and Fortitude moſt an end being quite new painted and guilded. The border on the outſide of the bulk being new layd with faire white and trayled over with greene according to the cuſtom heretofore—and for baying and colouring the whole number of the oares for the row barge being thirty-ſix."

[136] On the other ſide of this ſcrap of paper is another bill. "For ſeve⯑rall times oyling and laying with fayre white a ſtone for a ſun-dyall oppoſite to ſome part of the King and Queen's lodgings, the lines thereof being drawn in ſeverall colours, the letters directing to the howers guilded with fine gould, as alſoe the glory, and a ſcrowle guilded with fine gould, whereon the number and figures ſpecifying the planetary howers are inſcribed; likewiſe certain letters drawne in black informing in what part of the compaſſe the ſun at any time there ſhining ſhall be reſident; the whole worke being circumferenced with a frett painted in a manner of a ſtone one, the compleat meaſure of the whole being ſix foote."

At bottom of each of theſe bills are the ſketches of heads I men⯑tioned. De Critz and others were buyers of the King's goods to the value of 4999l. Rich. Symonds ſays that at De Critz's houſe in Au⯑ſtin-fryars were three rooms full of the King's pictures. Emanuel De Critz, brother or ſon, was one of the petitioners to the council of ſtate for delivery of the goods they had purchaſed, which had been detained by Cromwell. Thomas De Critz, brother of John, was a painter too, and ſuperior, ſaid Murray, to his brother. One of the name was mace-bearer to the houſe of parliament. A head of one Oliver De Critz, with a paper in his hand, is in the muſeum at Oxford. John De Critz had a ſcholar called Le Menſe, who was born at Antwerp.

ADRIAN HANNEMAN

was born at the Hague, and painted both hiſtory and portraits, having ſtudied under one Raveſteyn, but more from the works of Vandyck, of whoſe airs of heads Vertue thought him the beſt imitator. He made

[137] love, as is ſaid before, to the niece of Cornelius Johnſon though with⯑out ſucceſs, and drew that painter, his wife and ſon. He came to England in the reign of King Charles, and for ſome time worked un⯑der Mytens, and continued here ſixteen years. Returning to Holland, he became the favorite painter of Mary Princeſs of Orange. There is a picture of her and the Prince in armour at Lord Strafford's at Went⯑worth-caſtle, painted, I believe, by Hanneman. At Windſor, ^* a por⯑trait of Duke Hamilton: at Workſop, the Duke of Norfolk's, a pic⯑ture of kettles and utenſils. Sir Peter Lely had a man playing on a lute two feet ten ſquare. In the library belonging to the cathedral of Lincoln, the portrait of one Honeywood, whoſe mother lived to ſee 365 of her own deſcendents. There is a print of Charles II. painted before his reſtoration by Hanneman, engraved by Hen. Danckers at the Hague; and at General Compton's Vertue ſaw one done by Han⯑neman at the ſame time. ^† He painted in the chamber of the States at the Hague; and for the Heer Van Wenwing two uſurers counting their money; while he worked on this he wanted a ſum himſelf, which he borrowed of the perſon who had ordered the picture, and which when it was finiſhed, Wenwing would have deducted, but Hanneman told him that all the gold he had borrowed was put into the picture, and was what the miſers were counting. He died about 1680. His ſon, called William, was buried in St. Martin's in 1641.

There were ſeveral other painters here in the reign of Charles, who were ſo inconſiderable, or of whom I find ſo little, that I ſhall mention them very briefly.

[138] Cornelius Neve drew the portraits of Richard Lord Buckhurſt and Mr. Edward Sackville in one piece in 1637. It is at Knowle. No. 73. in the picture-gallery at Oxford is painted by him, where he is called a celebrated painter. In 1664 he drew the portrait of Mr. Aſhmole in his herald's coat. ^*

K. Coker, painted a head of Colonel Maſſey, preſerved at Codding⯑ton in Cheſhire.

Matthew Goodricke or Gothericke, is mentioned as a painter in one of the office books of that reign.

In the inventory of the pictures at Oatlands was a view of Green⯑wich by Stalband; and in Mr. Harene's ſale 1764, was an octagon landſcape with the ſtory of the Centurion, by the ſame hand; ſome⯑thing in the manner of Paul Brill, but the colours exceedingly bright and glaring. And in another catalogue of the King's pictures was a proſpect of Greenwich by Portman.

Mr. Greenbury is mentioned in the ^† catalogue of the King's col⯑lection for copying two pictures of Albert Durer by the direction of the Lord Marſhal. Probably he was one of Lord Arundel's painters.

Horatio Paulin lived chiefly in Holland. He came to England, went to Hamburgh, and thence to the Holy-land. Rotiere agreed to go with him but was diſcouraged. Deſcamps ^‡ expreſſes ſurprize, "that pious painters ſhould have exhibited to the public very licenti⯑ous [139] pieces and ſcandalous nudities." But by the account which he has given of Horatio Paulin, he ſeemed to preſent himſelf with a very eaſy ſolution of this paradox. Paulin ſet on foot a kind of promiſcu⯑ous cruſado to the Holy-land; they were ſtored with croſſes, relicks, &c. and on the road made many proſelytes of both ſexes. A baker's wife in particular was ſo devout, that ſhe thought it a meritorious ac⯑tion to plunder her huſband of his plate, that ſhe might equip herſelf for the pilgrimage. When the caravan was furniſhed by theft, one may eaſily conceive why it's apoſtle painted indecent altar-pieces.

Povey lived in this reign and painted a head which was in the poſſeſſion of Mr. Leneve, Norroy.

One Hamilton an Engliſhman, is mentioned by ^* Sandrart as ex⯑celling in painting birds and grapes, and doing ſeveral things for the Elector of Brandenburgh.

Edward Bower drew the portrait of Mr. Pym; an equeſtrian figure of General Fairfax, and John Lord Finch of Fordwich: The two laſt were engraved by Hollar.

Holderneſs drew the picture of an old woman with a ſkull, which was in the collection of Villiers Duke of Buckingham.

T. Johnſon made a draught of Canterbury in 1651, which hangs on the ſtairs of the library belonging to the cathedral.

Reurie is mentioned by ^† Sanderſon as a painter in little in 1658.

[140]FRANCIS BARLOW

was of more note than the preceding artiſts. ^* He was born in Lin⯑colnſhire, and placed with one Sheperd a face-painter; but his taſte lay to birds, fiſh and animals, in which he made great figure, though his colouring was not equal to his deſigns—conſequently, which is not often the caſe, the prints from his works did him more honour, than the works themſelves, eſpecially as he had the good fortune to have ſome of them engraved by Hollar and Faithorn. ^† There are ſix books of animals from the drawings of Barlow, and a ſet of cuts for Aeſop's Fables. Some cielings for birds he painted for noblemen and ^‡ gentle⯑men in the country; and he drew ſome of the monuments in Weſt⯑minſter-abbey, deſigned for an edition of Mr. Keep's hiſtory of that cathedral. Mr. Symonds ſays he lived near the drum in Drury-lane, and received eight pounds for a picture of fiſhes. He once painted a half length of General Monke; and the herſe was deſigned by him, as was expreſſed in the Lord Chamberlain's warrant to Sir Chriſtopher Wren to prepare timber for it at Monke's funeral. I have a curious long roll, engraved by White, exhibiting the ceremonies and proceſ⯑ſion of that magnificent interment, with a full deſcription of it; the frontiſpiece is well deſigned by Barlow. It is remarkable that forty gentlemen of good families ſubmitted to wait as mutes with their backs againſt the wall of the chamber where the body laid in ſtate, for three

[141] weeks, waiting alternately twenty each day. Barlow, though inherit⯑ing a large ſum of money from a friend, died poor ſo lately as 1702.

Sir TOBY MATTHEWS

one of thoſe heteroclite animals who finds his place any where. His father was Archbiſhop of York, and he a jeſuit. He was ſuppoſed a wit, and believed himſelf a politician. His works are ridiculous, and his greateſt ſucceſs was a little miſchief in making converts. ^* The famous Counteſs of Carliſle, as meddling as Matthews, and as affected, was the object of his adoration. He drew a character of her, ^† which commends her ſo impertinently, that with ſcarce ſtraining, it might paſs for a ſatire. For inſtance, he ſays, "She has as much ſenſe and grati⯑tude for the actions of friendſhip as ſo extreme a beauty will give her leave to entertain; and that although ſhe began to be civil to people at firſt, ſhe would rather ſhow what ſhe could do, than let her nature con⯑tinue in it, and that ſhe never conſidered merit in others but in propor⯑tion as they had any to her. That ſhe affected particularity ſo much, that you might fear to be leſs valued by her for obliging her; that ſhe had little religion, was paſſionate, could ſuffer no condition but plenty [142] and glory, was fickle, and gay only out of contradiction becauſe her phyſicians had told her ſhe was inclined to melancholy"—with a heap of ſuch nonſenſe—in ſhort, I believe, no proud beauty was ever ſo well flattered to her own contentment. Mr. Garrard, maſter of the charter-houſe, a man of more ſenſe and more plain ſenſe than Matthews, has drawn this Lady's character in fewer words, and upon the whole not very unlike Sir Toby's picture; "My lady Carliſle will be reſpected and obſerved by her ſuperiors, be feared by thoſe that will make them⯑ſelves her equals, and will not ſuffer herſelf to be beloved but of thoſe that are her ſervants." ^* Sir Toby Matthews's title to a place in this work depends ſingly upon a letter from the Ducheſs of Buckingham to the Duke, ^† in which ſhe tells him ſhe had not yet ſeen the picture which Toby Matthews had drawn of the Infanta and ſent over. Vertue adds that he had ſome ſmall ſkill in limning; otherwiſe I ſhould have con⯑cluded, that he had only drawn the Infanta's portrait in the ſame fan⯑taſtic colours which he had employed on Lady Carliſle. However as it is not foreign to the deſign of this work to throw in as many lights as poſſible on the manners of the ſeveral ages, I did not unwillingly adopt Vertue's miſtake, if it is one. Whoever deſires to know more of this perſon, will find his life in the Athenae Oxonienſes. But I have not yet done with theſe motley characters; the King's taſte made his court affect to be painters and virtuoſi; among theſe was

Sir JAMES PALMER,

often mentioned in the catalogue of the royal collection; in which he [143] ſold, gave and painted pictures. Of the latter was a ^* piece of Tarquin and Lucretia copied from Titian. Another, the feaſt of Bacchus, was delivered to him by the King's own hands, to be copied in tapeſtry at the manufacture in Mortlack. He had lodgings in the tennis-court at Whitehall, and is often mentioned as a domeſtic ſervant. ^† He was the perſon ſent to Richard Atkyns for the picture in which the King diſtin⯑guiſhed two different painters; and Mr. Garrard in a letter to Lord Strafford dated Jan. 9. 1633, ſays, "I had almoſt forgot to tell your Lordſhip that the diceing-night the King carried away in James Pal⯑mer's hat 1850 pieces. The Queen was his half and brought him that good luck; ſhe ſhared preſently 900." In Stone's accounts, from which I have given ſome extracts above, is mention of a monument for Pal⯑mer's wife. If theſe men add no great ornament to our liſt, it will at leaſt be honoured by our next; the Hogarth of poetry was a painter too; I mean,

SAMUEL BUTLER

the author of Hudibras. In his life prefixed to his works we are told, "That for his diverſion he practiced muſic and painting. I have ſeen, adds the writer, ſome pictures ſaid to be of his drawing which remained ^‡ in that family (of Mr. Jefferys) which I mention not for the excellency of them, but to ſatisfy the reader of his early inclinations to that noble [144] art; for which alſo he was afterwards entirely beloved by Mr. Samuel Cooper, one of the moſt eminent painters of his time."

FRANCIS CLEYN

was a painter in a different ſtyle from any we had ſeen here; for which reaſon, though he arrived earlier than many I have mentioned, I reſer⯑ved him 'till I had diſpatched the performers in oil. He was born at Roſtock and retained in the ſervice of Chriſtian IV. King of Denmark, but the excellence of his genius prompted him to the ſearch of better models than he found in that northern climate. He travelled to Italy and ſtayed there four years; it was at Rome, I ſuppoſe, he learned thoſe beautifull groteſques, in which he afterwards ſhone. At Venice he became known to Sir Henry Wotton, and Sir Robert Anſtruther re⯑commended him to Prince Charles. He arrived while the Prince was in Spain, but notwithſtanding was graciouſly received by King James, who mentions that circumſtance in a Latin letter that he wrote to the King of Denmark, deſiring leave to detain Cleyn in England, though with a permiſſion to return firſt to Copenhagen and finiſh a work he had begun there, and promiſing to pay the expence of his journey. The letter is preſerved by Fuller. ^* The requeſt was granted, and Cleyn returned to London at the end of the ſummer. The King had juſt then given two thouſand pounds towards Sir Francis Crane's new manufacture of tapeſtry at Mortlack. They had worked only after old patterns; Cleyn was placed there, and gave deſigns both in hiſtory and groteſque, which carried thoſe works to ſingular perfection. It ap⯑pears by King Charles's catalogue that five of the cartoons were ſent

[145] thither to be copied by him in tapeſtry. His penſion is recorded by Rymer. ^* "Know yee that we do give and graunt unto Francis Cleyne a certain annuitie of one hundred pounds by the year during his natural life." He enjoyed this ſalary 'till the civil war; and was in ſuch favour with the King and in ſuch reputation, that on a ſmall drawing of him in Indian ink about ſix inches ſquare, which Vertue ſaw, he is called, Il famoſiſſimo pittore Franceſco Cleyn, miracolo del ſecolo, e molto ſtimato del re Carlo della gran Britania, 1646." Cleyn was not em⯑ployed ſolely in the works at Mortlack; he had a houſe near the church in Covent-garden, and did ſeveral other things for the King and Nobi⯑lity. At Somerſet-houſe he painted a cieling of a room near the gal⯑lery with hiſtories and compartments in gold. The outſide of Wimble⯑don-houſe he painted in freſco. Bolſover in Nottinghamſhire, Stone⯑park in Northamptonſhire, and Carew-houſe at Parſon's-green (ſince Lord Peterborough's) were ornamented by him. There is ſtill extant a beautifull chamber adorned by him at Holland-houſe, with a cieling in groteſque, and ſmall compartments on the chimnies, in the ſtyle and not unworthy, of Parmegiano. Two chairs, carved and gilt, with large ſhells for backs, belonging to the ſame room, were undoubtedly from his deſigns; and are evidences of his taſte. A letter ^† from Lord Cottington to Lord Strafford, deſcribing the former's houſe at Han⯑worth, mentions Cleyn, though not by name. "There is a certain large low room made under the building with a fountain in it, and other rare deviſes, and the open gallery is all painted by the hand of a ſecond Titian. Aug. 1629." In King Charles's catalogue is mention of four [146] patterns for the great ſeal, drawings ^* on blue paper by Cleyn. He made deſigns for various artiſts; particularly for ſeveral of Hollar's plates to Virgil and Aeſop: for theſe he received fifty ſhillings a piece. There are two ſmall books of foliages from his drawings; one contain⯑ing ſix ſmall ſlips with animals in groteſque; the other, in five ſlips, of the ſenſes; and the initial letters of his name F. C. inv. 1646. And two books for carvers, goldſmiths, &c. containing 25 plates. It is however uncertain whether theſe and a few other plates of the ſame kind are not by his ſon, who had the ſame chriſtian name, and imita⯑ted his father's manner. Such is a title-page to Lacrymae Muſarum, elegies on the Lord Haſtings, who died in 1650, the day before he was to have been married. Alſo, ſeven plates of the liberal arts, about four or five inches ſquare, prettily deſigned and neatly etched. On a ſmall print of the father, etched by the ſon, Mr. Evelyn wrote, "A moſt pious man, father of two ſons, who were incomparable painters in miniature; all died in London." By the regiſter of Mortlack it ap⯑pears that he had three ſons; Francis born in 1625, who died and was buried at Covent-garden October 21, 1650. Charles and John; and two daughters, Sarah and Magdalen. He had another daughter, pro⯑bably born in London, and called Penelope. Vertue ſaw a miniature, like Cooper's manner, but not ſo well, of Dorothea, youngeſt daughter of Richard Cromwell, act. 4, 1668, with theſe letters, P. C. which he thought ſignified Penelope Cleyn. ^† In the catalogue of plates and prints exhibited to ſale by Peter Stent 1662, was a book of groteſques in ten plates; Francis Cleyn inv. et ſculpſit. Cleyn beſides his own [147] ſons, inſtructed Dobſon; and died himſelf about 1658. Mr. Engliſh ^* a painter who died at Mortlack in 1718 had a picture of Cleyn and his wife and ſeveral of his deſigns for tapeſtries, all which came to Mr. Crawley of Hempſted Hertfordſhire. Richard Symonds in one of his pocket-books mentions another piece of Cleyn and his family by can⯑dlelight, and a copy by the ſon of a ſacrifice from Raphael, which was in the royal collection, and a drawing on coloured paper. At Ken⯑ſington I have lately found a picture which I do not doubt is of Cleyn's hand. It repreſents Chriſt and Mary in a chamber, the walls and windows of which are painted in groteſque. Different rooms are ſeen through the doors, in one I ſuppoſe is Martha employed in the buſineſs of the family. There is merit in this piece, particularly in the per⯑ſpective and groteſques, the latter of which, and the figures in the manner of the Venetian ſchool, make me not heſitate to aſcribe it to this maſter.

JOHN HOSKINS.

For the life of this valuable maſter I find fewer ^† materials, than of almoſt any man in the liſt who arrived to ſo much excellence. Vertue knew no more of him than what was contained in Graham's Engliſh School, where we are only told "that he was bred a face-painter in oil, but afterwards taking to miniature, far exceeded what he did before; that he drew King Charles, his Queen and moſt of the court, and had two conſiderable diſciples, Alexander and Samuel Cooper, the latter of whom became much the more eminent limner." Hoſkins, though [148] ſurpaſſed by his ſcholar, the younger Cooper, was a very good painter; there is great truth and nature in his heads; but the carnations are too bricky, and want a degradation and variety of tints. I have a head of ſerjeant Maynard by him, boldly painted and in a manly ſtyle, though not without theſe faults; and another good one of Lord Falkland, more deſcriptive of his patriot melancholy than the common prints; it was in the collection of Dr. Meade. ^* There is indeed one ^† work of Hoſkins that may be called perfect; it is a head of a man, rather young, in the gown of a maſter of arts, and a red ſatten waſtecoat. The clearneſs of the colouring is equal to either Oliver; the diſhevelled hair touched with exquiſite freedom. It is in the poſſeſſion of Mr. Fanſhaw, but not known whoſe portrait. Vertue mentions a ſon of Hoſkins of the ſame name, and ſays, that this mark [...] diſtinguiſhes the works of the father from thoſe of the ſon, which have I. H. ſimply. I meet with no other hint of a ſon of that name except in Sanderſon, who barely names him. ^‡ One Peter Hoſkins is entered into the re⯑giſter of Covent-garden as buried July 1, 1681. Hoſkins the father was buried in that church Feb. 22, 1664. In the ^‖ catalogue of King Charles are mentioned two drawings by Hoſkins for the great ſeal. [149] Colonel Sothby has a head of Sir Benjamin Rudyard by him, and a profile, which Vertue thought might be Hoſkins himſelf. Prefixed to Coryat's Crudities is a copy of verſes with his name to them.

ALEXANDER COOPER

was nephew of Hoſkins, and with his brother Samuel, of whom an ac⯑count will be given in the enſuing volume, was inſtructed in water-colours by their uncle. Alexander painted landſcapes in this manner as well as portraits. At Burleigh is the Story of Acteon and Diana by him. He went abroad, reſided ſome time at Amſterdam, and at laſt entered into the ſervice of Queen Chriſtina.

ANNE CARLISLE,

a paintreſs, admired for her copies (it is not ſaid whether in oil or mi⯑niature) from Italian maſters. Graham ^* ſays, ſhe was in ſuch favour with King Charles, that he preſented her and Vandyck with as much ultramarine at one time as coſt him above five hundred pounds. If her ſhare was near equal, I ſhould ſuppoſe ſhe painted in oil. It would be a very long time before the worth of 200l. in ultramarine could be employed in miniatures. Vertue mentions her teaching a lady to paint, whoſe picture ſhe drew ſtanding behind her own; herſelf was ſitting with a book of drawings in her lap; and he adds, that many pieces painted by her were in the poſſeſſion of a widow Lady Cotterel. Mrs. Carliſle died about 1680.

[150]JOHN PETITOT

was patronized by the two monarchs, who of late years have given the nobleſt encouragement to artiſts, Charles 1ſt. and Louis 14th. He deſerved their protection as a genius, and has never been equalled in enamel. Zincke alone has once or twice, and but once or twice, pro⯑duced works that might ſtand in competition with any ſingle per⯑formance of Petitot.

The latter was born at Geneva in 1607; his father, a ſculptor and architect, having paſſed part of his life in Italy, had retired to that city. The ſon was deſigned for a jeweller, and having frequent occaſion to make uſe of enamel, he attained ſuch a tone of colour, that Bordier, who afterwards became his brother-in-law, conceived, that if Petitot would apply himſelf to portrait, he might carry the art to great perfection. Though both wanted ſeveral colours, which they knew not how to prepare for the fire, their attempts had great ſucceſs. Pe⯑titot executed the heads and hands, Bordier, the hair, draperies and grounds.

In this intercourſe of ſocial labour, the two friends ſet out for Italy. As painters, the treaſures of the art were open to them; as enamellers, they improved too by frequenting the beſt chymiſts of that country; but it was in England that they were ſo fortunate as to learn the choiceſt ſecrets in the branch to which they had devoted themſelves. Sir Theodore Mayern, firſt phyſician to Charles, and a great chymiſt, communicated to them the proceſs of the principal colours which ought to be employed in enamel, and which ſurpaſſed the famous vi⯑trifications of Venice and Limoges.

[151] Mayern introduced Petitot to the King, who knighted and gave him an apartment in Whitehall. The French author of the Abregè de la Vie des plus fameux Peintres, whom I copy, and am ſorry to criticize while I am indebted to him, ſays, that Vandyck ſeeing ſome deſigns of Petitot at the King's goldſmith's, and informing himſelf of the author, adviſed him to quit the profeſſion of jeweller, and apply himſelf to painting portraits in enamel. But the biographer had told us that that ſtep was already taken; and ſurely had not been aban⯑doned during a long ſtay in Italy. What the ſame writer adds, that Vandyck gave him inſtructions, when Petitot copied the works of that maſter, and that his copies from Vandyck are his beſt performan⯑ces, is much more agreeable to probability and fact. The magnifi⯑cent whole length of Rachel de Rouvigny Counteſs of Southampton, in the collection of the Duke of Devonſhire, is painted from the origi⯑nal in oil by Vandyck, in the poſſeſſion of Lord Hardwicke, and is indubitably the moſt capital work in enamel in the world; it is nine inches three quarters high, by five inches and three quarters wide; and though the enamel is not perfect in ſome trifling parts, the execution is the boldeſt and the colouring the moſt rich and beautifull that can be imagined. It is dated 1642. His Grace has a head of the Duke of Buckingham by the ſame hand; with the painter's name and the date 1640; conſequently a copy performed ^* after the Duke's death. In the ſame collection is a portrait of a middle-aged man in armour, in⯑cloſed in a caſe of tortoiſhel, the perſon unknown, but inferior to none I have ſeen of this maſter. The Ducheſs of Portland has another of the Duke of Buckingham, exactly the ſame as the preceding; Charles [152] firſt and his Queen, and the Lady Morton, governeſs of the royal children, who is celebrated by Waller. I have a fine head of Charles 1ſt. in armour, for which he probably ſat, as it is not like any I have ſeen by Vandyck; James 2d. when Duke of York, freely painted, though highly finiſhed, and I ſuppoſe done in France; a very large and capital one of his ſiſter Henrietta Ducheſs of Orleans, exquiſitely laboured; a very ſmall, but fine head of Anne of Auſtria; another of Madame de Monteſpan; and a few more of leſs note, but all of them touched in that minute and delicate ſtyle, into which he afterwards fell in France, and which, though more laboured, has leſs merit in richneſs of tints, than his Engliſh works. Vanderdort mentions a carving by Petitot from Titian's Lucretia, in which way I find no other account of his attempts, though, as his father was a ſculptor, he probably had given his ſon ſome inſtructions.

The tragic death of his royal protector was a dreadful ſtroke, ſays his biographer, to Petitot, who attended the exiled family to Paris. I queſtion, as ſo few Engliſh portraits appear by his hand, and none that I know later than 1642, whether the Civil War did not early drive him back to France; but Bordier undoubtedly remained here ſometime longer, having been employed by the parliament to paint a memorial of the battle of Naſeby, which they preſented to Fairfax their victorious general. This ſingular curioſity is now in my poſſeſ⯑ſion, purchaſed from the Muſeum of Thoreſby, who ^* bought it, with other rarities, from the executors of Fairfax. It conſiſts of two round plates each but an inch and half diameter, and originally ſerved, I [153] ſuppoſe, for the top and bottom of a watch, ſuch enamelled plates being frequent to old watches inſtead of cryſtals. On the outſide of that which I take for the bottom, is a repreſentation of the Houſe of Commons, as exhibited on their ſeals by Simon. Nothing can be more perfect than theſe diminutive figures; of many even the counte⯑nances are diſtinguiſhable. On the other piece, within, is delineated the battle of Naſeby; on the outſide is Fairfax himſelf on his cheſtnut horſe, men engaging at a diſtance. The figure and horſe are copied from Vandyck, but with a freedom, and richneſs of colouring, per⯑haps ſurpaſſing that great maſter. Under the horſe, one reads P. B. fecit. This is the ſingle work which can with certainty be allotted to Bordier alone, and which demonſtrates how unjuſtly his fame has been abſorbed in the renown of his brother-in-law. Charles 2d. during his abode in that kingdom took great notice of Petitot; and introdu⯑ced him to Louis, who, when the reſtoration happened, retained Pe⯑titot in his own ſervice, gave him a penſion and lodged him in the Louvre. Small portraits of that monarch by this great enameller, are extremely common, and of the two Queens, his mother and wife.

In 1651 he married Margaret Cuper; the celebrated Drelincourt performed the ceremony at Charenton; for Petitot was a zealous pro⯑teſtant, and dreading the conſequences of the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685, he begged permiſſion of the King to retire to Ge⯑neva. Louis, who did not care to part with ſo favorite a painter, and who perhaps thought that an enameller's religion was not compo⯑ſed of ſterner ſtuff, than the great Turenne's, eluded his demand; and at laſt being preſſed with repeated memorials, ſent Petitot to Fort-l'eveque, and Boſſuet to convert him. The ſubtle apoſtle, who had woven ſuch a texure of devotion and ambition, that the latter was [154] ſcarce diſtinguiſhable from the former, had the mortification of not ſucceeding, and Petitot's chagrin bringing on a fever, he at laſt ob⯑tained his liberty, now almoſt arrived at the age of fourſcore, which makes it probable that his converſion rather than his pencil had been the foundation of detaining him. He no ſooner was free, than he eſcaped with his wife to Geneva in 1685. His children, who dreaded the King's wrath, remained at Paris, and throwing themſelves at his feet, implored his protection. His Majeſty, ſays my author, receiv⯑ed them with great goodneſs, and told them, he willingly forgave an old man, who had a whim of being buried with his fathers.—I do not doubt but this is given, and paſſed at the time, for a bonmot—but a very flat witticiſm cannot depreciate the glory of a confeſſor, who has ſuffered impriſonment, reſiſted eloquence, and ſacrificed the emolu⯑ments of court-favour to the uprightneſs of his conſcience. Petitot did not wiſh to be buried with his fathers, but to die in their religion.

Returned to his country, the good old man continued his darling profeſſion. The King and Queen of Poland deſired to be painted by his hand, and ſent their portraits to be copied by him in enamel, but the meſſenger finding him departed, proceeded to Geneva, where he executed them with all the vigour of his early pencil. The Queen was repreſented ſitting on a trophy, and holding the picture of the King. For this piece he received an hundred Louis d'or's.

So great was the concourſe to viſit him, that he was obliged to quit Geneva and retire to Veray, a little town in the canton of Berne, where as he was painting his wife, an illneſs ſeized and carried him off in a day, in 1691, at the age of fourſcore and four. He had had ſe⯑venteen children; one of his daughters, a widow, was living in 1752. My portrait of Charles 1ſt. came from one of his ſons, who was a ma⯑jor [155] in our ſervice. Of the reſt, one only attached himſelf to his father's art and practiced in London, his father often ſending him his works for models. This ſon painted in miniature too, and left deſcendents, who are ſettled at Dublin.

It is idle to write a panegyric on the greateſt man in any vocation. That rank diſpenſes with encomiums, as they are never wanted but where they may be conteſted. Petitot generally uſed plates of gold or ſilver, ſeldom copper. In the dawn of his reputation he received twenty guineas for a picture, which price he afterwards raiſed to forty. His cuſtom was to have a painter to draw the likeneſs in oil, from which he made his ſketches, and then finiſhed them from the life. Thoſe of Louis he copied from the beſt pictures of him, but generally obtained one or two ſittings for the completion. His biographer ſays, that he often added ^* hands to his portraits; I have ſeen but one ſuch, the whole length of Lady Southampton; and that at Loretto there is of his work an incomparable picture of the Virgin. A collec⯑tor at Paris poſſeſſes more than thirty of this great maſter's perfor⯑mances, particularly the portraits of Meſdames de la Valiere, Mon⯑teſpan, Fontanges &c. Another has thoſe of the famous Counteſs d'Olonne, the Ducheſs of Bouillon, and other ladies of the court. Van Gunſt engraved after Petitot the portrait of Chevreau.

Of Bordier, we have no fuller account than this incidental mention of him; yet I have ſhown that his is no trifling claim to a principal place among thoſe artiſts whoſe works we have moſt reaſon to boaſt. I wiſh this clue may lead to farther diſcoveries concerning him!

[156] I come now to other artiſts in the reign of Charles; and firſt of ſtatuaries.

ANDREW KEARNE

a German, was brother of Nicholas Stone the elder, for whom he worked. Kearne too carved many ſtatues for Sir Juſtinian Iſham, at his houſe near Northampton. At Somerſet-ſtairs he carved the River⯑god which anſwered to the Nile, made by Stone, and a lioneſs on the water-gate of York-ſtairs. For the Counteſs of Mulgrave a Venus and Apollo of Portland ſtone, ſix feet high, for each of which he had ſeven pounds. He died in England, and left a ſon that was alive ſince 1700.

JOHN SCHURMAN

born at Emden, was another of Stone's workmen, and afterwards ſet up for himſelf. He was employed by Sir John Baſkerville; made two ſhepherds ſitting for Sir John Davers of Chelſea; a marble ſtatue of Sir T. Lucy, for his tomb in Warwickſhire, for which he was paid eighteen pounds, and fifty ſhillings for poliſhing and glazing; the ſame for a ſtatue on ^* Lord Belhaven's tomb; a little boy on the ſame monu⯑ment; two ſphinxes for Sir John Davers; and Hercules and Antaeus for that gentleman's garden, at the rate of ſixteen pounds.

EDWARD PIERCE

father and ſon, are mentioned here together, though the father was a

[157] painter chiefly in the reign of the firſt Charles, the ſon a ſtatuary who worked moſtly under the ſecond Charles, but each may be allotted to either period. The father painted hiſtory, landſcape ^* and architecture; but the greater part of his works conſiſting of altar-pieces and cielings of churches were deſtroyed in the fire of London. One of his cielings was in the church of Covent-garden. For ſome time he worked under Vandyck, and ſeveral of his performances are at the Duke of Rutland's at Belvoir. A book of freeze-work in eight leaves, etched in 1640, was I ſuppoſe by the hand of the father; as to him muſt be referred an entry in an office-book, where he is mentioned for paint⯑ing and gilding frames of pictures at Somerſet-houſe at two ſhillings the foot, Feb. 17, 1636. He alſo agrees to paint and gild the chimney piece in the croſs-gallery there for eight pounds. Dobſon drew his pic⯑ture. He died a few years after the reſtoration and was buried at Stamford. He had three ſons, who all, ſays Graham, ^† became famous in their different ways. One was John Pierce, a painter; of the third, I find no account of his profeſſion; the other was Edward the ſtatuary and architect. He made the ſtatues of Sir Thomas Greſham, of Ed⯑ward III. at the Royal-exchange, and of Sir William Walworth at Fiſh⯑monger's-hall; a marble buſt of Thomas Evans, maſter of, and a great benefactor to, the company of painters in 1687: The buſt is in their hall: a model of the head of Milton, which Vertue had, the buſt of Sir Chriſtopher Wren in the picture-gallery at Oxford, and a buſt of Cromwell ſold at an auction in 1714. He much aſſiſted Sir Chriſtopher in many of his deſigns, and built the church of St. Cle⯑ment under his direction. Edward Pierce too carved the four dragons [158] on the monument, at fifty pounds each. The whole coſt of that co⯑lumn, excluſive of the dragons, and of the baſrelief which is not men⯑tioned in the account, appears by the ſurvey of Hooke, Leybourn and others, to have amounted to 8000l. A rich vaſe at Hampton-court is another of the works of Pierce. He lived and died at his houſe the corner of Surrey-ſtreet in the Strand, and was buried at St. Mary's le Savoy, in 1698.

HUBERT LE SOEUR,

one of the ſew we have had that may be called a claſfic artiſt, was a Frenchman, and diſciple of John of Boulogne. He arrived at leaſt as early as 1630, and by the only ^* two of his works that remain, we may judge of the value of thoſe that are loſt or deſtroyed. Of the latter were a ^† buſt of Charles I. in braſs, with a helmet ſurmounted by a dragon à la Romaine, three feet high, on a black pedeſtal: The fountain at Somerſet-houſe with ſeveral ſtatues; and ſix brazen ſtatues at St. James's. Of thoſe extant are, the ſtatue in braſs of William Earl of Pembroke in the picture-gallery at Oxford, given by the grand-father of the preſent Earl; and the noble equeſtrian figure of King Charles at Charing-croſs, in which the commanding-grace of the figure and exquiſite form of the horſe are ſtriking to the moſt unpracticed eye. This piece was caſt in 1633 in a ſpot of ground near the church of Covent-garden, and not being erected before the commencement of ^‡

[159] the civil war, it was ſold by the parliament to John Rivet a brazier li⯑ving at the dial near Holbourn-conduit, with ſtrict orders to break it in pieces. But the man produced ſome fragments of old braſs, and concealed the ſtatue and horſe under ground 'till the reſtoration. They had been made at the expence of the family of Howard-Arundel, who have ſtill receipts to ſhow by whom and for whom they were caſt. They were ſet up in their preſent ſituation at the expence of the crown, about 1678, by an order from the Earl of Danby, after⯑wards Duke of Leeds. The pedeſtal was made by Mr. Grinlin Gib⯑bons. Le Soeur had a ſon Iſaac who was buried Nov. 29, 1630, at Great St. Bartholomew's. The father lived in the cloſe.

ENOCH WYAT

carved two figures on the water ſtairs of Somerſet-houſe, and a ſtatue of Jupiter. And he altered and covered the King's ſtatues, which during the troubles were thruſt into Whitehall-garden, and which, it ſeems, were too heatheniſhly naked to be expoſed to the inflammeable eyes of that devout generation.

ZACHARY TAYLOR

lived near Smithfield, was a ſurveyor and carver to the King, as he is called in a book belonging to the board of works in 1631. In 1637 he is mentioned for carving the frames of the pictures in the croſs-gallery at Somerſet-houſe at two ſhillings and two-pence per foot. He carved ſome things too at ^* Wilton. Mr. Davis of the Tennis-court [160] at Whitehall had a good portrait of Taylor with a compaſs and ſquare in his hands.

JOHN OSBORN

was another carver of that time: Lord Oxford had a large head in re⯑lievo on tortoiſe-ſhell of Frederic Henry Prince of Orange; and theſe words, Joh. Oſborn, Angl. Amſtelod. fecit, 1626.

MARTIN JOHNSON

was a celebrated engraver of ſeals, and lived at the ſame time with Thomas and Abraham Simon, the medalliſts. He was a rival of the former, who uſed puncheons for his graving, which Johnſon never did, calling Simon a puncher, not a graver. Johnſon beſides painted land⯑ſcapes from nature, ſelecting the moſt beautifull views of England, which he executed, it is ſaid, ^* with much judgment, freedom and warmth of colouring. His works are ſcarce. He died about the be⯑ginning of the reign of James II.

[...] GREEN,

a ſeal-cutter, is only mentioned in a letter ^† to the Lord Treaſurer from Lord Strafford, who ſays he had paid him one hundred pounds, for the ſeals of Ireland, but which were cut in England.

[161]CHRISTIAN VAN VIANEN. ^*

As there was no art, which Charles did not countenance, the chacers and emboſſers of plate were among the number of the protected at court. The chief was Vianen, whoſe works are greatly commended by Aſhmole. ^† Several pieces of plate of his deſign were at Windſor, particularly two large gilt water-pots, which coſt 235l. two candleſticks weighing 471 ounces; on the foot of one of them was chaſed Chriſt preaching on the mount; on the other, the parable of the loſt ſheep; and two covers for a bible and common-prayer book, weighing 233 ounces; the whole amounting to 3580 ounces, and coſting 1564l. were in the year 1639, when the laſt parcels were delivered, preſented as of⯑ferings by his majeſty to the chapel of St. George. But in 1642 cap⯑tain Foy broke open the treaſury, and carried away all theſe valuable curioſities, as may be ſeen more at large in Dugdale. An agreement was made with the Earl-marſhal, Sir Francis Windebank, and Sir Francis Crane, for plate to be wrought for the King at twelve ſhillings per ounce, and before the month of June 1637, he had finiſhed nine pieces. Some of theſe I ſuppoſe were the above-mentioned: others were gilt, for Vianen complained that by the expence of the work, and the treble-gilding, he was a great loſer, and deſired to be conſidered. The deſigns themſelves were thought ſo admirable, as to be preſerved in the royal collection. King Charles had beſides four plates chaſed with the ſtory of Mercury and Argus. ^‡ Mr. Weſt has two oval heads [162] in alto relievo ſix inches high of Charles and his Queen, with the ini⯑tial letters of the workman's name, C. V. Lond. There were others of the name, I do not know how related to him. The ^* King had the portrait of a Venetian captain by Paul Vianen; and the offering ^† of the wiſemen by Octavian Vianen. There is a print of a head of Adam Van Vianen, painted by Jan. Van Aken, and etched by Paul Vianen, above-mentioned. Chriſtian Vianen had a very good diſciple

FRANCIS FANELLI,

a Florentine, who chiefly practiced caſting in metal, and though infe⯑rior to Le Soeur, was an artiſt that did credit to the King's taſte. Van⯑derdort mentions in the royal collection a little figure of a cupid ſitting on a horſe running, by Fanelli, and calls him the one-eyed Italian. The figures of Charles I. and his Queen in niches in the quadrangle of St. John's college Oxford were caſt by him, and are well deſigned. They were the gift of Archbiſhop Laud, and were buried for ſecurity in the civil war. William Duke of Newcaſtle was a patron of Fanelli, and bought many of his works, ſtill at Welbeck; particularly a head in braſs of Prince Charles 1640; with the founder's name behind the pe⯑deſtal, Fr. Fanellius, Florentinus, ſculptor magn. Brit. regis. And ſe⯑veral figures in ſmall braſs; as, St. George with the dragon dead; another combating the dragon; two horſes grazing; four others in different attitudes; a cupid and a turk, each on horſeback, and a cen⯑taur with a woman. By the ſame hand, or Le Soeur's, are, I con⯑clude, the three following curious buſts, in bronze; a head of Ed⯑ward Lord Herbert of Chirbury, the Author, in the poſſeſſion of the [163] Earl of Powis; and two different of the Lady Venetia Digby, wife of Sir Kenelm. Behind the beſt of them, on which the point-lace of her handkerchief is well expreſſed, is written this tender line, "Ux⯑orem vivam amare voluptas, defunctam religio." One of theſe was probably ſaved from her monument. See before p. 102. Fanelli pu⯑bliſhed two books of deſigns, of architecture, fountains, vaſes, &c. One conſiſts of fourteen plates in folio, no date. The other in twenty-one leaves, was publiſhed by Van Merle at Paris 1661, en⯑graved, as Vertue thought, by Faithorne, who was about that time in France. Fanelli had a ſcholar, called John Bank, who was living in 1713.

THEODORE ROGIERS

is mentioned by Vanderdort, ^* as the chaſer of five ſquare plates of ſilver with poetic ſtories in the King's collection; and he made an ewer from a deſign of Rubens, mentioned in the life of that painter. He muſt not be confounded with William Rogers an Engliſhman, who engraved the title-page to John Linſchoten's collection of voyages to the Eaſt Indies.

I ſhall now ſet down what little I have to ſay of the medalliſts of King Charles. Briot has been mentioned under the preceding reign: He and T. Simon, his diſciple, poſſeſſed the royal favour 'till the be⯑ginning of the troubles, when Simon falling off to the parliament, ^† [164] a new medalliſt was employed on the few works executed for the King during the remainder of his life; his name was

THOMAS RAWLINS.

The firſt work by which he was known to the public was of a nature very foreign from his profeſſion; in 1640 he wrote a play called The Rebellion. ^* and afterwards a Comedy, called Tom Eſſence. ^† He was appointed engraver to the mint, now become ambulatory, by patent in 1648; having in the preceding year while the King was at Oxford ſtruck a medal on the action of Keinton-field. Under the date on the reverſe is the letter R. ſideways. ^‡ The next year he ſtruck another, after many offers of peace had been made by the King and been reject⯑ed; on the reverſe are a ſword and a branch of laurel; the legend, in utrumque paratus. The letter R. under the buſt of the King. In 1644 he made a large oval medal, ſtamped in ſilver, with the effigies of a man holding a coin in his hand, and this inſcription, Guliel. Park⯑hurſt Eq. aurat. cuſtos Camb. et monet. totius Angliae 1623. Oxon. 1644. [...] ſculps. I take for granted this Mr. Parkhurſt had been [165] either a patron or relation of Rawlins, or one cannot conceive why he ſhould have gone back twenty one years to commemorate an obſcure perſon, ſo little connected with the ſingular events of the period when it was ſtruck. This medal was in the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, and is now in the muſeum, as was and is, an oval piece of gold of Charles II. the reverſe a ſhip; better workmanſhip than the preceding. There is but one piece more certainly known for his, a caſt in lead, thus inſcribed, Rob. Bolles de Scampton in com. Lincol. Baronet; under the ſhoulder T. Rawlins F. 1665. There might be and probably were other works of his hand, to which in prudence he did not ſet his name. Such is the bold medalion of Archbiſhop Laud, ſtruck in 1644. He was employed by the crown 'till 1670, when he died. There is a print of his wife, with this inſcription; Dorothea Narbona uxor D. Thomae Rawlins ſupremi ſculptoris ſigilli Carol. I. et Carol. II. D. G. magn. Brit. Franc. et Hiber. regum. In Fleckno's works publiſhed in 1653 is "A poem on that excellent cymeliſt or ſculptor in gold and precious ſtones, &c. Tho. Rawlins.

JOHN VARIN or WARIN

was an eminent medalliſt in France, but appears by ſome works to have been in England, at leaſt to have been employed by Engliſh; there are four ſuch pieces in the collection of Mr. Weſt; the firſt, a large medalion caſt, Guil. ſil. Rob. Ducy mil. et baronet. aetat ſuae 21, 1626. Another, a caſt medal of Philip Howard S. R. E. Card. Nor⯑folk. Endymion Porter aetat. 48, 1635. And Margareta, uxor, aet. 25, 1633. I have a good medal of Cardinal Richelieu by Warin, who died in 1675, as I learn from a jetton of him by Dacier.

[166] The laſt artiſt that I have to produce of this period, but the greateſt in his profeſſion that has appeared in theſe kingdoms, and ſo great, that in that reign of arts we ſcarce know the name of another architect, was

INIGO JONES,

who, if a table of fame like that in the Tatler, were to be formed for men of real and indiſputable genius in every country, would ſave Eng⯑land from the diſgrace of not having her repreſentative among the arts. She adopted Holbein and Vandyck, ſhe borrowed Rubens, ſhe produ⯑ced Inigo Jones. Vitruvius drew up his Grammar, Palladio ſhowed him the practice, Rome diſplayed a theatre worthy of his emulation, and King Charles was ready to encourage, employ, and reward his talents. This is the hiſtory of Inigo Jones as a genius. The particu⯑lars of his life have been often written, and therefore I ſhall run them over very briefly; adding ſome leſs known minutiae [which, I fear, are the characteriſtics of theſe volumes] and ſome catalogue of his works.

He was born about 1572, the ſon of a cloth-worker, and by the moſt probable accounts, bound apprentice to a joiner, but even in that obſcure ſituation, the brightneſs of his capacity burſt forth ſo ſtrongly, that he was taken notice of by one of the great Lords at court; ſome ſay, it was the Earl of Arundel; the greater ^* number that it was Wil⯑liam Earl of Pembroke; though againſt that opinion there is, at leaſt, a negative evidence, which I ſhall mention preſently. By one of theſe Lords, Inigo was ſent to Italy to ſtudy landſcape-painting, to which his inclination then pointed, and for which that he had a talent, ap⯑pears

[167] by a ſmall piece preſerved at Chiſwick: the colouring is very in⯑different, but the trees freely and maſterly imagined. He was no ſooner at Rome, than he found himſelf in his ſphere. He felt that nature had not formed him to decorate cabinets, but deſign palaces. He dropped the pencil, and conceived Whitehall. In the ſtate of Venice he ſaw the works of Palladio, and learned how beautifully taſte may be exerted on a leſs theatre than the capital of an empire. How his abilities diſtinguiſhed themſelves in a ſpot where they certainly had no opportunity to act, ^* we are not told, though it would not be the leaſt curious part of his hiſtory; certain it is, that on the ſtrength of his reputation at Venice, Chriſtian IV. invited him to Denmark and appointed him his architect; but on what buildings he was employed in that country we are yet to learn. James I. found him at Copen⯑hagen, and Queen Anne took him in the quality of her architect to Scotland. He ſerved Prince Henry in the ſame capacity, and the place of ſurveyor-general of the works was granted to him in reverſion. On the death of that Prince, with whom at leaſt all his lamented qua⯑lities did not die, Jones travelled once more to Italy, and aſſiſted by ripeneſs of judgment perfected his taſte. To the interval between thoſe voyages I ſhould be inclined to aſſign thoſe buildings of Inigo, which are leſs pure, and border too much upon that baſtard ſtyle, which one calls King James's Gothic. Inigo's deſigns of that period are not Gothic, but have a littleneſs of parts and a weight of ornaments, with which the revival of the Grecian taſte was encumbered, and which he ſhook of in his grander deſigns. The ſurveyor's place fell and he returned to England, and as if architecture was not all he had [168] learned at Rome, with an air of Roman diſintereſtedneſs he gave up the profits of his office, which he found extremely in debt, and pre⯑vailed on the comptroller and paymaſter to imitate his example, 'till the whole arrears were cleared.

In the reign of James I find a payment by a warrant from the coun⯑cil to Inigo Jones, Thomas Baldwin, William Portington and George Weale, officers of his majeſty's works, for certain ſcaffolds and other works by them made, by the command of the Lord Chamberlain, againſt the arraignment of the Earl of Somerſet and the Counteſs his Lady. The expence was twenty pounds.

In the Foedera ^* is a commiſſion to the Earl of Arundel, Inigo Jones and ſeveral others, to prevent building on new foundations within two miles of London and palace of Weſtminſter.

In 1620 he was employed in a manner very unworthy of his genius. King James ſet him upon diſcovering, that is, gueſſing, who were the founders of Stone-henge. His ideas were all romanized; conſequently his partiality to his favorite people, which ought rather to have pre⯑vented him from charging them with that maſs of barbarous clumſi⯑neſs, made him conclude it a Roman Temple. It is remarkable that whoever has treated of that monument, has beſtowed it on whatever claſs of antiquity he was peculiarly fond of; and there is not a heap of ſtones in theſe Northern countries, from which nothing can be proved, but has been made to depoſe in favour of ſome of theſe fantaſtic hy⯑potheſes. Where there was ſo much room for viſion, the Phoenicians could not avoid coming in for their ſhare of the foundation; and for [169] Mr. Toland's part, he diſcovered a little ſtone-henge in Ireland, built by the Druideſs Gealcopa, (who does not know the Druideſs Gealcopa?) who lived at Iniſoen in the county of Donnegal. ^*

In the ſame year Jones was appointed one of the commiſſioners for the repair of St. Paul's, but which was not commenced 'till the year 1633, when Laud, then Biſhop of London, laid the firſt ſtone and Inigo the fourth. In the reſtoration of that cathedral he made two capi⯑tal faults. He firſt renewed the ſides with very bad Gothic, and then added a Roman portico, magnificent and beautifull indeed, but which had no affinity with the ancient parts that remained, and made his own Gothic appear ten times heavier. He committed the ſame error at Wincheſter, thruſting a ſcreen in the Roman or Grecian taſte into the middle of that cathedral. Jones indeed was by no means ſucceſsfull when he attempted Gothic. The chapel of Lincoln's-inn has none of the characteriſtics of that architecture. The cloyſter beneath ſeems oppreſſed by the weight of the building above. ^†

The authors of the life of Jones place the erection of the banquet⯑ting-houſe in the reign of King Charles; but, as I have ſhown from the accounts of Nicholas Stone, it was begun in 1619, and finiſhed in two years—a ſmall part of the pile, deſigned for the palace of our Kings; but ſo compleat in itſelf, that it ſtands a model of the moſt pure and beautifull taſte. Several plates of the intended palace of [170] Whitehall have been given, but, I believe, from no finiſhed deſign. The four great ſheets are evidently made up from general hints, nor could ſuch a ſource of invention and taſte, as the mind of Inigo, ever produce ſo much ſameneſs. The ſtrange kind of cherubims on the towers at the end are propoſterous ornaments, and whether of Inigo or not, bear no relation to the reſt. The great towers in the front are too near, and evidently borrowed from what he had ſeen in Gothic, not in Roman buildings. The circular court is a pictureſque thought, but without meaning or utility. The whole fabric however was ſo glorious an idea, that one forgets for a moment, in the regret for it's not being executed, the confirmation of our liberties obtained by a me⯑lancholy ſcene that paſſed before the windows of that very banquet⯑ting-houſe.

In 1623 he was employed at Somerſet-houſe, where a chapel was to be fitted up for the Infanta, the intended bride of the Prince. ^* The chapel is ſtill in being. The front to the river, part only of what was deſigned, and the water-gate, were erected afterwards on the deſigns of Inigo; as was the gate at York-ſtairs.

Upon the acceſſion of Charles he was continued in his poſts under both King and Queen. His fee as ſurveyor was eight ſhillings and four-pence per day, with an allowance of forty-ſix pounds a year for houſe-rent, beſides a clerk, and incidental expences. What greater re⯑wards he had are not upon record. Conſidering the havoc made in offices and repoſitories during the war, one is glad of being able to re⯑cover the ſmalleſt notices.

[171] During the proſperous ſtate of the King's affairs, the pleaſures of the court were carried on with much taſte and magnificence. Poetry, painting, muſic, and architecture, were all called in to make them ra⯑tional amuſements; and I have no doubt but the celebrated feſtivals of Louis XIV. were copied from the ſhows exhibited at Whitehall, in it's time the moſt polite court in Europe. Ben Johnſon was the lau⯑reat; Inigo Jones, the inventor of the decorations; Laniere and Fera⯑boſco compoſed the ſimphonies; the King, the Queen, and the young nobility danced in the interludes. We have accounts of many of theſe entertainments, called maſques: They had been introduced by Anne of Denmark. I ſhall mention thoſe in which Jones was concerned.

Hymenaei, or ſolemnities of maſque and barriers, performed on the twelfth-night 1606, upon occaſion of the marriage of Robert Earl of Eſſex, and the Lady Frances daughter of the Earl of Suffolk; at court; by Ben Johnſon. Maſter Alphonſo Feraboſco ſung; maſter Thomas Giles made and taught the dances.

Tethys's feſtival, a maſque, preſented on the creation of Henry Prince of Wales, June 5, 1610. The words by S. Daniel, the ſcenery contrived and deſcribed by maſter Inigo Jones. This was called the Queen's wake. Several of the Lords and Ladies acted in it. Daniel owns that the machinery, and contrivance and ornaments of the ſcenes made the moſt conſpicuous part of the entertainment.

February 16, 1613, a maſque at Whitehall on the nuptials of the Palſgrave and the Princeſs Elizabeth, invented and faſhioned by our kingdom's moſt artfull and ingenious architect Inigo Jones; digeſted and written by the ingenious poet, George Chapman. ^*

[172] Jones had dabled in poetry himſelf: there is a copy of verſes by him prefixed to Coryat's Crudities, among many others by the wits of that age, who all affected to turn Coryat's book into ridicule, but which at leaſt is not ſo fooliſh as their verſes.

Pan's anniverſary, a maſque at court before King James I. 1625. Inventors Inigo Jones and Ben Johnſon.

Love's Triumph, 1630, by the King and nobility, the ſame inven⯑tors.

Chlorida, the Queen's maſque at court, 1630. The ſame.

Albion's triumph, a maſque preſented at court by the King's Ma⯑jeſty and his Lords, on twelfth-night, 1631; by Inigo and Johnſon.

The temple of love, a maſque at Whitehall, preſented by the Queen and her Ladies, on Shrove-tueſday 1634, by Inigo Jones, ſurveyor, and William Davenant.

Coelum Britannicum, a maſque at Whitehall in the banquetting-houſe on Shrove-tueſday-night; the inventors, Thomas Carew, Inigo Jones.

A maſque preſented by Prince Charles September 12, 1636, after the King and Queen came from Oxford to Richmond.

Britannia triumphans, a maſque preſented at Whitehall by the King and his Lords on twelfth-night 1637.

Salmacida Spolia, a maſque preſented by the King and Queen at Whitehall on tueſday January 21, 1639. The invention, ornaments, ſcenes and apparitions, with their deſcriptions, were made by Inigo [173] Jones, ſurveyor-general of his majeſty's works; what was ſpoken or ſung, by William Davenant, her majeſty's ſervant.

Love's miſtreſs, or the Queen's maſque, three times preſented be⯑fore their Majeſties at the Phoenix in Drury-lane, 1640. T. Hey⯑wood gives the higheſt commendation of Inigo's part in this perfor⯑mance.

Lord Burlington had a folio of the deſigns for theſe ſolemnities, by Inigo's own hand, conſiſting of habits, maſks, ſcenes, &c.

The harmony of theſe triumphs was a little interrupted by a war that broke out between the compoſers, Inigo and Ben; in which who⯑ever was the aggreſſor, the turbulent temper of Johnſon took care to be moſt in the wrong. Nothing exceeds the groſsneſs of the language that he poured out, except the badneſs of the verſes that were the ve⯑hicle. There he fully exerted all that brutal abuſe which his cotem⯑poraries were willing to think wit, becauſe they were afraid of it; and which only ſerves to ſhew the arrogance of the man, who preſumed to ſatirize Jones and rival Shakeſpeare. With the latter indeed he had not the ſmalleſt pretenſions to be compared, except in having ſome⯑times writ abſolute nonſenſe. Johnſon tranſlated the ancients, Shake⯑ſpeare transfuſed their very ſoul into his writings.

Another perſon who ſeems to have born much reſentment to Jones was Philip Earl of Pembroke; ^* in the Harleian library was an edition of Stone-henge which formerly belonged to that Earl, and the margins of which were full of ſtrange notes writ by him, not on the work, but on the author or any thing elſe. I have ſuch another common-place book, if one may call it ſo, of Earl Philip, the life of Sir Thomas More. In the Stonehenge are memorandums, jokes, witticiſms and [174] abuſe on ſeveral perſons, particularly on Cromwell and his daughters, and on Inigo, whom his Lordſhip calls, Iniquity Jones; and ſays, he had 16000l. a year for keeping the King's houſes in repair. This might be exaggerated, but a little ſupplies the want I have mentioned of any record of the rewards beſtowed on ſo great a man. It is ob⯑ſervable that the Earl who does not ſpare reflections on his architect, never objects to him his having been maintained in Italy by Earl Wil⯑liam; nor does Webb in his preface to the Stone-henge, though he ſpeaks of Inigo's being in Italy, ſay a word of any patron that ſent him thither. Earl Philip's reſentment to Jones was probably occaſioned by ſome diſagreement while the latter was employed at Wilton. There he built that noble front, and a grotto at the end of the water. Wil⯑ton is one of the principal objects in a hiſtory of the arts, and Belles Lettres. Sir Philip Sidney wrote his Arcadia there for his ſiſter; Vandyck drew many of the race, Holbein and Inigo Jones imagined the buildings, Earl Thomas compleated the collection of pictures and aſſembled that throng of ſtatues, and the laſt Earl Henry has ſhown by a bridge deſigned by himſelf, that had Jones never lived, Wilton might yet have been a villa worthy of ancient Rome.

The works of Inigo are not ſcarce, though ſome that bear his name were productions of his ſcholars: ſome indeed neither of the one nor the other. Albins in Eſſex, I ſhould attribute to the laſt claſs, though always aſcribed to Inigo. If he had any hand in it, it muſt have been during his firſt profeſſion, and before he had ſeen any good buildings. The houſe is handſome, has large rooms and rich cielings, but all en⯑tirely of the King James's Gothic. Piſhiobury in Hertfordſhire is ſaid to have been built by him for Sir Walter Mildmay. At Woburn is a grotto-chamber, and ſome other ſmall parts by him, as there is of [175] his hand at Thorney-abbey, and a ſummer-houſe at Lord Barrington's in Berkſhire. The middle part of each end of the quadrangle at St. John's Oxford is aſcribed to him. The ſupporters of the royal arms are ſtrangly crouded in over the niches; but I have ſeen inſtances of his over-doing ornament. Charlton-houſe in Kent is another of his ſup⯑poſed works; but ſome critics have thought that only the great gate at the entrance and the colonades may be of his hand. The cabinet at Whitehall for the King's pictures was built by him, but we have no drawing of it. At St. James's he deſigned the Queen's chapel. Surge⯑on's-hall is one of his beſt works; and of the moſt admired, the arcade of Covent-garden and the church; two ſtructures, of which I want taſte to ſee the beauties: In the arcade there is nothing remark⯑able; the pilaſters, are as errant and homely ſtripes as any plaiſterer would make. The barn-roof over the portico of the church ſtrikes my eyes with as little idea of dignity or beauty ^* as it could do if it covered nothing but a barn. The expence of building that church was 4500l. Ambreſbury in Wiltſhire was deſigned by him, but executed by his ſcholar Webb, who married a couſin-german of Jones. Chevening is another houſe aſcribed to him, but doubtfull; Gunnerſbury near Brent⯑ford was certainly his; the portico is too large, and engroſſes the whole [176] front except a ſingle window at each end. The ſtair-caſe and ſalon are noble, but deſtroy the reſt of the houſe; the other chambers are ſmall, and crouded by vaſt chimney-pieces, placed with an Italian negligence in any corner of the room. Lindſey-houſe ^* in Lincoln's-inn-fields has a chaſter front, but is not better diſpoſed for the apartments. In 1618 a ſpecial commiſſion was iſſued to the Lord Chancellor, the Earls of Worceſter, Pembroke, Arundel, and others, to plant, and reduce to uniformity Lincoln's inn-fields, ^† as it ſhall be drawn by way of map or ground-plot, by Inigo Jones, ſurveyor general of the works. Cole⯑ſhill, in Berkſhire, the ſeat of Sir Matthew Pleydell, built in 1650, and Cobham-hall in Kent, were his; He was employed to rebuild Caſtle-Aſhby, and finiſhed one front, but the civil war interrupted his progreſs, there and at Stoke-park in Northamptonſhire. Shaftſbury-houſe, now the London-lying-in hoſpital, on the eaſt ſide of Alderſ⯑gate-ſtreet, is a beautifull front; at Wing, ſeven miles from his preſent ſeat at Ethorp, in Buckinghamſhire, Sir William Stanhope pulled down a houſe built by Inigo. The front to the garden of Hinton St. George in Somerſetſhire, the ſeat of Earl Poulet; and the front of Brympton, formerly the manſion of Sir Philip Sydenham, were from deſigns of Jones; as Chilham-caſtle, and the tower of the church at Staines, where Inigo ſometime lived, are ſaid to be. So is a very cu⯑rious work, if really by him, as I know no other performance of his in that kind, a bridge at Gwydder in Wales, on the eſtate of the Duke of [177] Ancaſter. Some alterations and additions he made at Sion. At Oatlands remains a gate of the old palace, but removed to a little diſ⯑tance, and repaired, with the addition of an inſcription, by the preſent Earl of Lincoln. The Grange, the ſeat of the Lord Chancellor Henley in Hampſhire, is entirely of this maſter. It is not a large houſe, but by far one of the beſt proofs of his taſte. The hall which opens to a ſmall veſtibule with a cupola, and the ſtaircaſe adjoining, are beautifull models of the pureſt and moſt claſſic antiquity. The gate of Beaufort-garden at Chelſea, deſigned by Jones, was purchaſed by Lord Burlington and tranſported to Chiſwick, where in a temple are ſome wooden ſeats with lions and other animals for arms, not of his moſt delicate imagination, brought from Tart-hall. He drew a plan for a palace at Newmarket, but not that wretched hovel that ſtands there at preſent. The laſt, and one of the moſt beautifull of his works, that I ſhall mention, is the Queen's houſe at Greenwich. The firſt idea of the hoſpital is ſaid to have been taken by Webb from his papers. The reſt of his deſigns, and his ſmaller works, as chim⯑nies and cielings, &c. may be ſeen in the editions of Kent, Ware, Var⯑dy, and Campbell.

Dr. Clarke of Oxford had Jones's Palladio with his own notes and obſervations in Italian, which the doctor bequeathed to Worceſter col⯑lege. The Duke of Devonſhire has another with the notes in Latin. Lord Burlington had a Vitruvius noted by him in the ſame manner. The ſame Lord had his head by Dobſon. At Houghton, it is by Vandyck. Hollar engraved one of them. Villamena made a print of him while he was in Italy. Among the Straſſord papers there is a letter from Lord Cottington to the Lord deputy ſending him a memo⯑rial from Inigo, relating to the procurement of marble from Ireland.

[178] Inigo taſted early of the misfortunes of his maſter: He was not only a favorite ^* but a Roman catholic. In 1646 he paid 545l. for his delinquency and ſequeſtration. Whether it was before or after this fine I know not, that he and Stone buried their joint ſtock of ready money in Scotland-yard; but an order being publiſhed to encourage the informers of ſuch concealments, and four perſons being privy to the ſpot where the money was hid, it was taken up and reburied in Lambeth-marſh.

Grief, misfortunes. and age, terminated his life. He died at Somer⯑ſet-houſe July 21, 1651, and on the 26th of the ſame month was bu⯑ried in the church of St. Bennet's Paul's-wharf, where a monument ^† erected to his memory was deſtroyed in the fire of London.

I here conclude this long chapter on the reign of King Charles. The admirers of that Prince will not think, I hope, that I have ſtinted them in anecdotes of their favorite monarch.

The next ſcarce deſerves the name of a chapter; it contains the few names we find of

[]

ANECDOTES of PAINTING, &c.
CHAP. III.
ARTISTS during the INTERREGNUM.

OF theſe the firſt in rank, if not in merit, was

GENERAL LAMBERT,

who, we are told by the author of the Engliſh School, was a great en⯑courager of painting and a good performer in flowers; ſome of his works were at the Duke of Leeds's at Wimbleton; and it was ſuppo⯑ſed that he received inſtructions from Baptiſt Gaſpars, whom he re⯑tained in his ſervice. The General's ſon John Lambert painted por⯑traits. There is a medal of the General by Simon.

ROBERT WALKER,

a portrait-painter, cotemporary with Vandyck, but moſt remarkable for being the principal painter employed by ^* Cromwell, whoſe picture [180] he drew more than once. One of thoſe portraits repreſented him with a gold chain about his neck, to which was appendent a gold medal with three crowns, the arms of Sweden and a pearl; ſent to him by Chriſtina in return for his picture by Cooper, on which Milton wrote a Latin epigram. This head by Walker is in the poſſeſſion of Lord Mountford at Horſeth in Cambridgeſhire, and was given to the late Lord by Mr. Commiſſary Greaves, who found it in an Inn in that County. ^* Another piece contained Cromwell and Lambert together: This was in Lord Bradford's collection. A third was purchaſed for the Great Duke, whoſe agent having orders to procure one, and meet⯑ing with this in the hands of a female relation of the protector, offer⯑ed to purchaſe it; but being refuſed, and continuing his ſollicitation, to put him off, ſhe aſked 500l.—and was paid it. It was on one of theſe portraits that Elſum wrote his epigram, which is no better than the reſt.

From one of R. Symondes's pocket books in which he has ſet down many directions in painting that had been communicated to him by various artiſts, he mentions ſome from Walker, and ſays, the latter re⯑ceived ten pounds for the portrait of Mr. Thomas Knight's wife to the knees; that ſhe ſat thrice to him, four or five hours at a time. That for two half lengths of philoſophers, which he drew from poor old men, he had ten pounds each in 1652; that he paid twenty five pounds for the Venus putting on her ſmock (by Titian) which was the King's, and valued it at ſixty-pounds, as he was told by Mrs. Board⯑man,

[181] who copied it; a paintreſs of whom I find no other ^* mention; and that Walker copied Titian's famous Venus, which was purchaſed by the Spaniſh Embaſſador, and for which the King had been offered 2500l. He adds, Walker cries up De Critz for the beſt painter in London.

Walker had for ſome time an apartment in Arundel-houſe and died a little before the reſtoration; his own ^† portrait is at Leiceſter-houſe, and in the picture-gallery at Oxford. Mr. Onſlow has a fine whole length, ſitting in a chair, of Keble keeper of the great ſeal in 1650 by this painter.

EDWARD MASCALL

drew another portrait of Cromwell, which the Duke of Chandos bought of one Clark, then of the age of 106, but hearty and ſtrong, who had been ſummoned to London on a cauſe of Lord Coningſby. This man had formerly been ſervant of Maſcall and had married his widow, and was at that time poſſeſſed of 300l. a year at Trewellin in Herefordſhire. He had ſeveral pictures painted by Maſcall. Of the latter there is an indifferent print, inſcribed, Effigies Edwardi Maſcall, pictoris, ſculpta ab exemplari propriâ manu depicto. James Gammon ſculpſit.

[...] HEYWOOD

Of this perſon I find no mention but that in 1650 he drew the portrait of General Fairfax, which was in the poſſeſſion of Mr. Brian Fairfax. [182] A draught from this by one James Hulet was produced to the ſociety of Antiquaries by Mr. Peck in 1739.

PETER BLONDEAU, AND THOMAS VIOLET,

were employed by the commonwealth to coin their money, of whom and their conteſts ſee Vertue's account in his hiſtory of the works of Thomas Simon p. 17. Blondeau, after the reſtoration, November 3, 1662, received letters of denization, and a grant for being engineer of the mint in the tower of London, and for uſing his new invention for coining gold and ſilver with the mill and preſs; with the fee of 100l. per ann.

FRANCIS CARTER,

was chief clerk of the works under Inigo Jones: There is an entry in an office-book of a payment to him of 66l.—13s.—4d. He lived in Covent-garden, and during the commonwealth was a juſtice of peace, and made ſurveyor of the Works, in which poſt he was continued by Oliver. He died ſoon after the reſtoration.

At the Protector's funeral among others walked the following per⯑ſons, his officers,

• The maſter carpenter,
• Mr. Davenport, maſter joyner,
• Mr. Kingwood, maſter carver,
• Mr. Philips, maſter malon,
• Mr. Thomas Simon, chief graver of the mint.