orazio gentileschi and some netherlandish artists in london: the patronage of the duke of...

Orazio Gentileschi and Some Netherlandish Artists in London: The Patronage of the Duke ofBuckingham, Charles I and Henrietta MariaAuthor(s): Jeremy WoodSource: Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, Vol. 28, No. 3 (2000 - 2001),pp. 103-128Published by: Stichting voor Nederlandse Kunsthistorische PublicatiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3780940 .

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Io3 103

Orazio Gentileschi and some Netherlandish artists in London: the patronage of the Duke of Buckingham, Charles i and Henrietta Maria*

Jeremy Wood

On 28 July i 63 I, Katherine Manners, the recently widowed Duchess of Buckingham (fig. i), wrote with some asperity to Sir Dudley Carleton, Viscount Dorchester (fig. 2), as follows: "My Lo: I understand by Jentelesco that if hee could have the money dewe to him from his Mat' hee would willinglie leave England and begone into his owne Cuntrie, and I believe the King hath noe greate use of him."'

From this it appears that Orazio Gentileschi (fig. 3), the Italian painter then working in London, was owed substantial sums of money by Charles I (fig. 4) a not unusual state of affairs at court. It is more unexpected and revealing to learn that the king had lost interest in the artist so soon after his arrival in i 626, but, as this essay will demonstrate, Gentileschi painted surprisingly little for his royal patron. The artist's position needs to be understood because, up to now, it has been claimed that his work reflected the king's supposedly "hyperre-

fined" taste,2 and that he was one of the most favored artists at court,3 but neither assumption will stand up to scrutiny.

Charles I left few statements about what he liked in the art of his time, but it is clear that he wanted to employ an Italian, although-as will be demonstrated-he largely depended on northern European artists.4 Ironi- cally, it was the Antwerp-born Anthony van Dyck (fig. 5) who, on moving to London in i632, stepped into the role of modern Titian for the king. By comparison, the cool tonality, physical opulence and shimmering treatment of fabrics in Gentileschi's work was closer to the work of Paolo Veronese, and, according to Basil, Vis- count Feilding (later 2nd Earl of Denbigh), the king found paintings by Veronese "not verie acceptable."5 On the other hand, Charles made an exception if the picture depicted a female nude, and he was prepared to part with a work by Domenico Fetti in order to obtain "a

* Versions of this essay were first presented as papers at the National Gallery, London, in March and May i999, and at the conference Char- les I: king and martyr held at the University of Edinburgh in October i999. I am particularly grateful to Gabriele Finaldi and David Howarth for inviting me to give these papers and for their generous discussion of the issues raised. My warm thanks also to Kate Gibson, Mark Jones, Elizabeth McGrath, Richard Schofield and Lucy Whitaker for much help and advice. Clare Tilbury read the entire text and made valuable suggestions, for which I am particularly grateful.

Many of the documents cited here calculate the New Year as starting on 25 March (according to which system the day after 3i December i6oi was I January i6fi, for example). In cases where there is a difference of a year between the Old Style and the New Style calendar (in which the New Year is calculated as beginning on I January), both years are given (i.e. I January I 60o /02).

The following abbreviations have been used: PRO Public Record Office PSO Privy Seal Office SO Signet Office SP State Papers

i London, PRO, SP, i6/197/45. See A.M. Crin6 and B. Nicolson,

"Further documents relating to Orazio Gentileschi," The Burlington Magazine 103 (i96i), p. 145; and R.W. Bissell, Orazio Gentileschi and the poetic tradition in Caravaggesque painting, University Park & Lon- don i98i, pp. 6o, 105-06. The transcription above has been checked against the original.

2 Bissell, op. cit. (note I), p. 57, who also argues that the "imagery, mood, and style" of Gentileschi's English works not only reflected the taste of the court but "helped to generate it" (p. 56), concluding that "in essence... Orazio Gentileschi became a Cavalier painter" (p. 58).

3 For example, Gabriele Finaldi has written of "Gentileschi's close- ness to the king" in G. Finaldi, exhib. cat. Orazio Gentileschi at the court of Charles I, London (National Gallery) i999, p. i9, and the "favour heaped on Gentileschi" (p. 20).

4 The most complete account of Charles I as a patron of seventeenth-century Dutch artists is C. White, The Dutch pictures in the Col- lection of Her Majesty the Queen, Cambridge i982, pp. xvii-xxxviii.

5 Scottish Record Office, GD 406/ I /9589; see P. Shakeshaft, "'To much bewiched with thoes intysing things': the letters of James, third Marquis of Hamilton and Basil, Viscount Feilding, concerning collecting in Venice, I635-I639," The Burlington Magazine I28 (I986), p. 124, doc. xix.



104 JEREMY WOOD

I Gerrit van Honthorst, George Villiers, ist Duke of Buckingham, with hisfamily. The Royal Collec- tion c 200i, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

< Sfzn S,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~P ag2 angnur /rJuCt4

2 Willem Jacobsz Delff, Sir Dudley Carleton (later Lord Dorchester), engraving, i620. London, British Museum

.>;r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~, -. 0.

3 Anthony van Dyck, Orazwo Gentileschi, drawing. London, British Museum



Orazio Gentileschi and some Netherlandish artists in London o05

4 Robert van Voerst after Anthony van Dyck, Charles I and Henrietta Maria,

engraving, 1634. London, British Museum

-_L.V..,-?;_

it

5 Anthony van Dyck, Self-portrait, etching. Oxford, Ashmolean Museum

6 Paolo Veronese, Thefinding of-oses. Madrid, Museo del Prado

6 Paolo Veronese, The finding of Moses. Madrid, Museo del Prado



JEREMY WOOD

7 Orazio Gentileschi, Thefinding ofMoses. Madrid, Museo del Prado

8 Paulus Pontius after Anthony van Dyck, Balthazar Gerbier, engraving. London, British Museum

Leda with a Swann done by Pole ferenes" from the Duchess of Buckingham.6 One of Veronese's versions of the Finding of Moses, now in the Prado, Madrid (fig. 6),7 was owned by the king and must have been well-known to Gentileschi, whose own interpretation of the subject-which was given to Philip iv and is now in the same museum (fig. 7) --is very different in composition

6 See O. Millar, The Queen's pictures, London 1977, p. 46, fig. 48; and O. Millar (ed.), "Abraham van der Doort's catalogue of the collections of Charles I," Walpole Society 37 (1958-60), p. 59.

7 Charles I owned two versions of the Finding ofMoses by Veronese. One was bought by Lely on 2 April 1650 for ?55, see O. Millar (ed.), "The inventories and valuations of the king's goods, 1i 649-I 65 I," Wal- pole Society 43 (197o-72), p. 65, and had been at Greenwich. The other was bought by Sergeant-Major Robert Gravener on 22 March 1 649/50 for L23 as from StJames's; see A.J. Loomie, "New light on the Spanish ambassador's purchases from Charles i's collection I649-53," Journal ofthe Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 52 (1989), pp. 261, 263, note 23, who states that Gravener sold it to the Spanish ambassador, Don Alon- so de CUrdenas acting on behalf of Don Luis de Haro, who in turn presented it to Philip iv; see J. Brown, Kings and connoisseurs: collecting art in seventeenth-century Europe, New Haven & London 1995, pp. 79, 138.

1. 7,4,,, t ren ouarnem It is now in the Prado, Madrid. See T. Pignatti, Veronese, 2 vols., Venice ?rr?C10e~~~~~ii',k..a,.,k 17, I I976, vol. I, p. I46, cat. nr. 240 for its later history. ' bT.,,-i,, t ~8 For the presentation of this work to the king of Spain see Bissell,

. op. cit. (note I), pp. 189-90, cat. nr. 62.

Io6



Orazio Gentileschi and some Netherlandish artists in London 107

but has something of its sensibility. Indeed, in the eighteenth century Gentileschi's picture was even engraved as by Veronese.9 While in London, Gentileschi adapted his style to the international court taste of the period, but his work may have been found less pleasing than the sixteenth-century Italian pictures that were collected so avidly by the king.

When Gentileschi arrived in London he found himself in a community of Netherlandish as much as English artists. He was welcomed by neither group. As early as 7 March i 627, his name was included in a list of artists whom the Painter-Stainers Company wished to prose- cute for ignoring its regulations. ' Royal protection meant that this threat could be brushed aside, but in i629, in a moment of paranoia, Gentileschi wrote to the king that "all the Dutchmen had combyned togeather to weary mee, and make mee leave the Kingdome.'"' Foremost among these adversaries was Balthazar Gerbier (fig. 8), born in Middelburg, who was employed by the Duke of Buckingham as art agent and curator of the collection at his London mansion, York House on the Strand.'2 The rivalry between Gentileschi and Gerbier is crucial for understanding the problems that beset the Italian artist around i630, and will be discussed further below. An- other Dutchman, Abraham van der Doort, was no less important for the management of the royal collection. In i625 he had been appointed as Embosser and Keeper of Medals as well as Surveyor of the King's Pictures, and in i628 this was followed by the post of Keeper of the Cabinet Room at St James's.'3 In London, Gentileschi found his profession dominated by dynasties of artists of Dutch origin, such as the de Critz and Gheeraerts fami- lies.'4 Daniel Mijtens (fig. i6) was in the ascendant as court portraitist, and Hendrick van Steenwijck the

Younger was extremely successful as a painter of perspective views (although neither of these artist's special- ities was a threat to Gentileschi). In the years after the Italian artist had settled in London he saw the arrival (sometimes only for short visits) of Gerrit van Hont- horst and Cornelis Vroom in i628; Peter Paul Rubens (fig. 15) in i629; Jan Torrentius in i630; Anthony van Dyck, Jan Lievens and Hendrick Pot in i632; and Cor- nelis van Poelenburch (fig. 17) in i637, amongst others. The situation was the same in the applied arts; for example, a famous silversmith from Utrecht, Christiaen van Vianen, was in London by April i630 (Appendix i, doc. 3).15 These men no doubt spoke Dutch rather than Eng- lish amongst themselves. Gentileschi seems not to have been able to write in English without an amanuensis, and a little-known letter of i630 establishes that his servants, and perhaps also the artist himself "non hanno la lingua,"'6 four years after his arrival.

Gentileschi's position at court needs to be understood in relation to those foreign artists (largely from the Netherlands, but including a medallist and a sculptor from France) who received court appointments or pensions of one kind or another from Charles I (see Appen- dices I-2), and this essay will present new material on his status within the group. Although Gentileschi is known to have painted figures in a lost perspective by Steenwijck,'7 this collaboration was exceptional. To a far greater extent than the Netherlanders, Gentileschi and his three sons, Francesco, Giulio, and Marco, were isolated by nationality, language, culture and religion.

GENTILESCHI 'S PRODUCTIVITY IN LONDON Although Gentileschi painted two works for an English patron, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham (fig. i), before ar-

9 As noted by S.N. Orso, Philip IVand the decoration ofthe Alcdzar of Madrid, Princeton i986, p. 71, with further references.

io See M. Whinney and 0. Millar, English art, i625-I7I4, Oxford 1957, p. 8i; and S. Foister, "Foreigners at court: Holbein, van Dyck and the Painter-Stainers Company," in D. Howarth (ed.), Art and patronage in the Caroline courts: essays in honour of Sir Oliver Millar, Cam- bridge 1993, pp. 32, 40.

ii W.N. Sainsbury, "Artists' quarrels in Charles I's reign," Notes and&Queries, 2nd series, 8 (3 August 1859), p. 121.

I2 See L.-R. Betcherman, "The York House collection and its keeper," Apollo 92 (I970), pp. 250-59.

13 PRO, SO, 3/8 (May i625); 3/9 (June i628), and Docquet Books, PSO, 5/5, fols. unnumbered. For an account of his career see Millar,

"Abraham," cit. (note 6), pp. xiii-xvii. 14 See M. Edmond, "Limners and picturemakers: new light on the

lives of miniaturists and large-scale portrait-painters working in Lon- don in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries," Walpole Society 47 (1978-80), pp. 134-74.

Is See R.W. Lightbown, "Christian van Vianen at the court of Charles i," Apollo 86 (I968), p. 430.

I6 Gentileschi to Lord Secretary Dorchester, I3 October i630. PRO, SP, i6/174, nr. 33, fol. 45r. Cited briefly in J. Bruce (ed.), Calen- dar of state papers, domestic series, of the reign of Charles I, i629-i63i, London i86o, p. 359, and Bissell, op. cit. (note i), p. 105.

17 Sold from Greenwich Palace in i6Si, see Millar, op. cit. (note 7), p.64.



io8 JEREMY WOOD

riving in London, his i2-year stay resulted in only I5 recorded works, seven of which survive,'8 while eight ap- pear to be lost.'9 In addition, he is known to have painted two works for foreigners (Roger du Plessis de Liancourt and Philip IV of Spain),20 bringing the total to 17. If Gentileschi's output in London was low by any standards (particularly by comparison with van Dyck), it also represented a staggeringly poor return on the royal investment in keeping him at court, although the extent of that investment was less generous than has been claimed and will be given detailed attention below. The aim of this essay is therefore to consider the artist's position at court and the reasons why he became so unpro- ductive. Was Gentileschi idle by nature or was his work out of step with court taste?

Gentileschi was an elderly man when he arrived in

London in i626, but physical decline was not the reason for this modest rate of production since he retained plenty of energy for making mischief and was sufficient- ly vigorous to paint the large ceiling for the Queen's House at Greenwich in his final years. It could be that there was little demand at the Protestant court for the work of a Catholic who specialized in religious subjects. But if that was the case, why did Gentileschi come to London at all, and then, having found it uncongenial, why did he stay? In the i63os, Gentileschi never worked for the leading collectors at court, among whom were the earls of Arundel, Pembroke, and Northumberland, as well as the Marquis of Hamilton. Admittedly, these men also failed to commission history subjects from van Dyck (preferring portraits), though they had no objec- tion to buying depictions of the Virgin, the saints, and

i8 i. Head of a young woman, private collection (fig. 14); Bissell, op. cit. (note I), pp. 193-94, cat. nr. 68. Described by van der Doort as at Whitehall, see Millar, "Abraham," cit. (note 6), p. 38; perhaps sold from StJames's in i 65 I/52, see Millar, op. cit. (note 7), p. 266.

2. The finding of Moses, private collection; Bissell, op. cit. (note I), pp. 19I-92, cat. nr. 66. For the early history of this work see H. Maddi- cott, "The provenance of the 'Castle Howard' version of Orazio Genti- leschi's 'Finding of Moses,"' The Burlington Magazine 140 (i998), pp. I 20-22.

3. Lot and his daughters, perhaps the version in Bilbao (fig. I I); Bis- sell, op. cit. (note I), p. i88, cat. nr. 6i. First recorded in i628; see A.R. Peltzer,Joachim von Sandrarts Academie der Bau-, Bild- und Mahlerey- Kiinste von i675, Munich 1925 (ed. princ. Nuremberg i675), p. s66. Mentioned by Gerbier in i629 (PRO, SP, i6/141, fol. 12ir; see note 42 below). Described by van der Doort as in the queen's Withdrawing Chamber at Greenwich; see Millar, "Abraham," cit. (note 6), p. 194.

4. An allegory of peace and the arts, painted for the Queen's House, Greenwich, now Marlborough House, London; Bissell, op. cit. (note I), pp. I95-98, cat. nr. 70.

5. Joseph and Potiphar's wife, Hampton Court (fig. 20); Bissell, op. cit. (note I), p. i9i, cat. nr. 64. Sold from Greenwich in the early i650s; Millar, op. cit. (note 7), p. I37. 6. Repetition of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, Paul Drey Gallery, New

York; Bissell, op. cit. (note I), p. i9i, cat. nr. 65. 7. A sibyl, Hampton Court; Bissell, op. cit. (note I), pp. 192-93, cat.

nr. 67. Perhaps sold from Hampton Court in i651/52; Millar, op. cit. (note 7), p. i9i, as argued by M. Levey, The later Italian pictures in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Cambridge I991, p. 92, cat. nr. 500.

i9 I. Apollo and the nine Muses, a ceiling at York House; Bissell, op. cit. (note I), pp. 2I4-I5, cat. nr. L-2.

2. ...eine Bussende Maria Magdalena;" Peltzer, op. cit. (note i8), p. i66. Sandrart says that it was intended for the king, but it, together with the next work described, sounds very like Buckingham's two pic-

tures (see note 40 below). Was Sandrart simply confusing one patron with another?

3. According to Sandrart, Gentileschi also painted a Rest on theflight into Egypt, perhaps the same work described by van der Doort in the queen's Second Bedchamber at Whitehall; see Millar, "Abraham," cit. (note 6), p. I76. Bissell, op. cit. (note I), p. i85, considered that "being coppied" meant that Gentileschi was then carrying out the work, and dated it ca. i637, but the present tense simply describes the picture in its location.

4. For "A Prosspetive of stenwch ye figures in it done by gentelisco" see note 17 above.

5. "St Franncis per Gentiliscoe," sold from Wimbledon House; Mil- lar, op. cit. (note 7), p. 2i8. See also Bissell, op. cit. (note I), p. 220, cat. nr. L-60.

6. "Susanna Wth ye 2 Eld"s done by gentelisco," sold from Whitehall in i649; Millar, op. cit. (note 7), p. 306. See also Bissell, op. cit. (note I), p. 22I, cat. nr. L-7I.

7. "Christ betweene 2 Jews. done by gentelisco," sold from Somerset House in i65I; Millar, op. cit. (note 7), P. 306. Described by Gerbier (PRO, SP, i6/14, fol i2ir. see note 42 below) as "A Christ at the Pil- lare," valued at L4o. See also Bissell, op. cit. (note I), pp. 215-i6, cat. nrs. L-9 and L-IO.

8. Apollo and the nine Muses, sold from Somerset House in i65 I; Mil- lar, op. cit. (note 7), P. 3i6. See Bissell, op. cit. (note I), pp. i90-9i, cat. nr. 63, and p. 215, cat. nr. L-3, where it is identified as being owned by Lily Lawlor in the I930S. Sold to Don Alonso de CArdenas, acting for Don Luis de Haro, and presented to Philip Iv; see Loomie, op. cit. (note 7), pp. 26i, 265, where it is wrongly said to have been destroyed in the Alcizar fire.

20 The Diana the huntress at Nantes, Bissell, op. cit. (note i), p. 194, cat. nr. 69, and the Finding ofMoses at Madrid, Bissell, op. cit. (note i), pp. i89-90, cat. nr. 62, respectively.



Orazio Gentileschi and some Netherlandish artists in London lo9

stories from the New Testament if by foreign artists of an earlier generation (preferably dead).2' As will be shown, Gentileschi worked in effect for only two patrons: Buckingham (fig. i), who died in i628 soon after the artist arrived in London, and the queen, Henrietta Maria (fig. 4). Gentileschi's biographers have not ac- knowledged the curiously limited nature of his patronage.

Earlier in his career Gentileschi's bad temper and intransigence was reported at the Florentine court,22 and his character, which has been aptly described as "ar- rogant and vindictive,"23 goes some way to explain the lack of enthusiasm for both the man and his work in London. On 29 January i629 Gentileschi wrote a long letter to Charles I in which he petulantly described a feud between himself and Gerbier (fig. 8),24 an opportun- ist of Gentileschi's own stature. The eruption of ill will between these two combative men was made worse by the death of their patron, Buckingham, since both had become vulnerable and needed to reposition themselves at court. Gentileschi wrote that the quarrel arose when he disparaged the "merritt and vallue" of the pictures at York House, many of which had been bought by Ger- bier on behalf of the Duke of Buckingham while keeper of his collection.25 Gentileschi's appeal to the king was ill-timed, since Gerbier enjoyed increased royal favor following the death of Buckingham, and the letter was written during the very month when Gerbier demon-

strated his loyalty to the crown by taking the oaths of al- legiance and supremacy as a British national, although the bill of naturalization was almost thrown out by a hostile parliament in a manner calculated to enrage the king on Gerbier's behalf.26 Gentileschi could not take similar steps to curry favor since, being a Catholic, he accepted the pope's spiritual authority.

In the most substantial modern account of Gentiles- chi's life and work he is described as "official painter" to Charles i and Henrietta Maria,27 but this is demon- strably untrue. At the time of his arrival in London, the main household appointments for painters were the posts of Serjeant Painter and king's Limner. The exception was Mijtens who was created "his Majesty's picture-drawer in ordinary" with an annual fee of ?20 by a Privy Seal warrant dated 4June i625.28 Gentileschi, like most of the other artists employed by Charles I (with the exception of van Dyck who became "principalle Paynter in Ordinary to their Majesties" on 5 July i632),29 was only loosely attached to the royal household. The surviving official documents simply refer to him as "Hora- tio Gentileschi gent[leman]" or "Sigr Gentileschi."30

Gentileschi never enjoyed the status and security in the royal household enjoyed by Mijtens, van Dyck, van der Doort, or the Surveyor, Inigo Jones. His fortunes reached a particularly low point around i630, when, following the assassination of Buckingham, his appeal for royal favor fell on deaf ears, and was undermined by

2i To my mind these men were able to distinguish between buying such images as collectable works of art and paying artists to make them, which might have been considered an active encouragement to popery. This issue is considered at more length inJ. Wood, "Van Dyck: a Cath- olic artist in Protestant England, and the Notes on Painting compiled by Francis Russell, 4th earl of Bedford" in H. Vlieghe (ed.), Anthony van Dyck (I599-i641): conjectures and refutations, Turnhout 200i (forthcoming).

22 See the letter of 27 March i6I5 from Pietro Guicciardini in Rome to Andrea Cioli, secretary to Grand Duke Cosimo ii, in Flor- ence; Crin6 and Nicolson, op. cit. (note i), p. i44.

23 Finaldi, op. cit. (note 3), p. I I. 24 PRO, SP, 13/133/29, fols. 44r-45r. See Sainsbury, op. cit. (note

I I), pp. I2I-22.

25 This disagreement had led to the imprisonment of Gentileschi's sons Francesco and Marco for debt at Gerbier's instigation, and to a public brawl when another of the brothers, Giulio, attacked Gerbier, striking him "once or twise with his swoorde in the Scaberd over the heade," Sainsbury, op. cit. (note i I), pp. 12I-22.

26 See J. Bruce (ed.), Calendar of state papers, domestic series, of the reign of Charles I, i628-i629, London i859, p. i83, citing a document

of 30June i628. 27 Bissell, op. cit. (note I), p. 5I. 28 PRO, SO, 3/8 (May i625); PRO, Exchequer of Receipt, E

403/2370/2 (with details of specific payments to Mijtens). See also 0. ter Kuile, "Daniel Mijtens: 'His Majesties Picture-Drawer'," Neder- lands Kunsthistorisch jaarboek 20 (i969), pp. 28-29, where the warrant dated June i625 is published. For the employment and privileges of royal servants in ordinary, see F. Philipps, Regale necessarium: or the le- gality, reason and necessity of the rights and priviledges justly claimed by the king s servants, and which ought to be allowed unto them, London i671.

29 For van Dyck's appointment see W.H. Carpenter, Pictorial no- tices consisting ofa memoir ofSirAnthony van Dyck with a descriptive catalogue of the etchings executed by him, London I 844, p. 29.

30 See the various references in PRO, Exchequer of Receipt, War- rants for Issues, E 404/153; Order Books (Pells), E 403/2749-275I; Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2565-2566; Docquet Books, PSO, 5/5; SO, 3/9-i0. For a possible exception see Finaldi, op. cit. (note 3), p. I2, but the use of the title "his Ma[jesty]'s Picture Maker" here is rightly described as "descriptive" rather than "official."



JEREMY WOOD

9 Orazio Gentileschi, St Mary Magdalen in penitence. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum

io Orazio Gentileschi, The rest on the flight into Egypt.

Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum

IIO



Orazio Gentileschi and some Netherlandish artists in London III

personal enmity with Gerbier, who-against all reason-was trusted by the king. Charles i's indifference to Gentileschi is documented in the letter written by the Duchess of Buckingham in i631 (quoted above), and it led Gentileschi to contemplate an honorable return home, as appears from a letter that he wrote to the Grand Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany on i8 July i633, in which he begged for employment.3'

GENTILESCHI AND BUCKINGHAM All the surviving evidence indicates that Gentileschi came to London at the invitation of Buckingham, not Charles i, although he surely hoped to serve the king as well.32 Gentileschi met Buckingham during the latter's visit to Paris in i625 and he sent pictures to him before moving to London, as he stated in a letter written to Lord Secretary Dorchester on 24 April i629.33 The artist added that he had been given sums of money by Buckingham to entice him to leave the French court and enter the duke's service.34 Gentileschi also mentioned that Buckingham provided his accommodation, while ungraciously complaining of the delay in getting it furnished.35 In London Gentiles- chi lived in a suite of rooms at York House, which included "the great upper room" which was used as a studio.36 Gentileschi was effectively a member of Buck- ingham's household, and he remained at York House until at least i631 when the widowed duchess found him hard to dislodge.37 Charles's own employment of

foreign artists was organized quite differently, as will be argued below. In addition, although Charles met some of Gentileschi's initial expenses, the money was given to Buckingham, as Gentileschi himself noted in the letter of April i629,38 and not provided directly under the Privy Seal. Gentileschi stated that the king had supplied only one year's "provision" and 1i5 0 for pigments.39 In short, Charles i's treatment of Gentileschi between i 626 (when he arrived in London) and I 628 (the year of Buck- ingham's death) makes it clear the artist was seen as the duke's property.

The first works that Gentileschi painted for Bucking- ham were no doubt intended to demonstrate what he could provide for his English patrons. The pictures in question were pendants of St Mary Magdalen in penitence (fig. 9) and The rest on the flight into Egypt (fig. io), both now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna,40 and they contrast two holy women named Mary who ex- pose their breasts for different pious reasons. That Gen- tileschi sent these paintings "di Parigi" before his move to London emerges from the letter of April i 629 already mentioned,4' and by a vengeful document, "The Som- mes of monnys Gentilesco hath receaved," written by Gerbier for Dorchester at around the same date, in which he referred to "the two pictures he [Gentileschi] sent from France."42 One of these, the Magdalen now in Vienna, may be the version of this subject which Gerbier valued at ?5o in the same document, but he also cites "a

3i A.M. Crin6, "Due lettere autografe inedite di Orazio e di Arte- misia Gentileschi De Lomi," Rivista dArte, 3rd series, 29 (1954), pp. 203-04.

32 Gentileschi's status as a "pensioner" of Buckingham was noted by Millar, The Queen 's pictures, cit. (note 6), pp. 52-53.

33 Gentileschi to Dorchester, 24 April i629; PRO, SP, I6/141, nr. 35, fol. 46r. Gentileschi refers to "...il tutto mi ha dato per li quadri in- viatigli di Parigi et per ricompensa dell'opere mie." A brief summary appeared in Bruce, op. cit. (note 26), p. 527; an English translation was provided by W.N. Sainsbury, Original unpublished papers illustrative of the life of Sir Peter Paul Rubens, as an artist and a diplomatist, preserved in H.M. State Paper Office, London I859, pp. 3 13-14.

34 Ibid.: "Per essermi appreso a questo servitio, et lasciato quello di Francia a sua devotione."

35 Gentileschi complained, ibid., at having "...perso molto tempo per attendere il commodo di quella casa, fatta da sua Ecca fabricare per mio servitio."

36 See the agreement drawn up for Buckingham and Gerbier datable between January and August I628 in P. McEvansoneya, "Some documents concerning the patronage and collections of the Duke of Buckingham," Rutgers Art Review 8 (I987), p. 33.

37 The letter to Lord Secretary Dorchester discussed above (see

note i), was aimed at removing Gentileschi's inconvenient presence from the duchess's London mansion.

38 Gentileschi, cit. (note 33): "Gli dir6 come non h6 riceuto altro solo che il denaro di quella gratia che don6 S. Ma al Sr Duca."

39 Ibid.: "Benche sin' hora non habbia riceuto da quella, solo che la prov[v]isione d'un anno, et le cento cinquanta Lire per l'azzurro, Mo- delli, et altri colori." See also Gentileschi's account of payments (datable i629) published in Finaldi, op. cit. (note 3), p. 33.

40 Bissell, op. cit. (note I), pp. i82-84, cat. nrs. 56-57. 41 See note 33. 42 PRO, SP, i6/14I, fol. Io2r, first published by Sainsbury, op. cit.

(note 33), pp. 314-15, wrongly dated, and republished verbatim by Bis- sell, op. cit. (note I), pp. I08-09. The mistake was corrected in Finaldi, op. cit. (note 3), p. 35, note 31, who placed it "in the early months of I629." Gerbier stated he did not know how much Gentileschi had been paid "for two pictures he sent from france, the one hauing bin the Car- dinals"; by which (pace Finaldi, op. cit. [note 3], p. I7) Gerbier could have meant that it was started for Richelieu and then supplied to Buck- ingham. The latter had written to the English ambassador in Paris to "quicken" the presentation of some pictures that Louis XIII, Marie de' Medici and Richelieu intended for him; see Betcherman, op. cit. (note I2), p. 254.



II2 JEREMY WOOD

i i Orazio Gentileschi, Lot and his daughters. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4

singel figeure beinge a Magdalene" for which Gentiles- chi was paid the huge sum of ?300. At the dispersal of Charles I's collection, large, lifesize works by Gentiles- chi were priced at between ?5o and ?8o each,43 depend- ing on the number of figures included, and, since in general these sale inventories give a fair idea of market values, Gerbier's estimate of ?50 would seem reason- able for the Vienna Magdalen. Indeed, Gerbier valued Gentileschi's Lot and his daughters, now in the Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao (fig. i i),44 at ? ioo, which was generous since it is estimated at ?80 in the later valuations of the king's goods,45 a figure probably based on the amount Gentileschi received for the picture. In i62I Buckingham had paid the huge sum of ?275 for "the great peece of Titian of Pilatus," the Ecce homo now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna,46 so, on the face of it, ?3OO seems far too expensive for a work by

Gentileschi. Buckingham is known to have paid a very large sum to a living artist on another occasion, however, when he gave no less than k5oo to Rubens for an eques- trian portrait,47 now destroyed (admittedly a very large work).48 To have paid more than the cost of Titian's Ecce homo for a work by Gentileschi would have been an act of extraordinary-indeed princely-liberality, but one not entirely out of character for Buckingham.

It is clear that Buckingham had the prior claim on Gentileschi's time because the first major commission given to the artist in London, a ceiling of Apollo and the nine muses for York House, now lost,49 came from the duke and not from the king. This would have been in- conceivable if Gentileschi had been a royal employee. This work must have been devised in competition with another ceiling for York House, Rubens's The glorification of the Duke of Buckingham, now destroyed but

43 See Millar, op. cit. (note 7), p. 137. 44 See note i8, nr. 3, and Finaldi, op. cit. (note 3), p. 66, cat. nr. 7. 45 Millar, op. cit. (note 7), p. 137. 46 I.G. Philip, "Balthazar Gerbier and the Duke of Buckingham's

pictures," The Burlington Magazine 99 (1957), p. 156.

47 Sainsbury, op. cit. (note 33), p. 68, note io7a. 48 See H. Vlieghe, Rubens: portraits of identified sitters painted in

Antwerp (Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, vol. 19, Pt. 2), London & New York i987, pp. 64-66, cat. nr. 8i.

49 See note i9, nr. i.



Orazio Gentileschi and some Netherlandish artists in London I 13

12 Peter Paul Rubens, The glorification of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. London, National Gallery

known from a preparatory oil sketch in the National Gallery, London (fig. I2).5o Rubens probably began work around May i625 and completed his ceiling by September i627. Since Buckingham was not assassinated until 23 August i628, it is just possible that the idea for the Apollo and the muses was stimulated by the arrival of the Rubens, but it is more likely that the two works were commissioned at around the same time in i625. At any rate Gentileschi had the doubtful advantage that his work was not completed until after the ceiling by his Flemish rival was in situ.5' If Gentileschi was encouraged to leave Paris because of the impact made by the delivery of the Medici Cycle, he may have felt some cha- grin that work by Rubens should follow him to London. Buckingham seems to have valued Gentileschi because he could paint large decorative works for his house, but, apart from the ceiling and the two religious subjects already mentioned (figs. 9-Io), there was little else by the artist recorded there when an inventory of pictures was made in i635, if that document is read correctly.52

It was Buckingham, as well as the king, who encouraged van Honthorst to visit London in i628, and as Gerbier wrote on 5 April i628: "Monsieur le Duc pre- tend de luy donner de l'employ joint a sa Matie qui lui donnera subiect de ne plaindre le passage de la Mer."53 It is not known whether van Honthorst lived at York House, but he was granted a pension (Appendix i, doc. 2) more promptly than Gentileschi, and Charles i took a greater interest in van Honthorst's work. His first major commission in London, the Apollo and Diana now at Hampton Court (fig. I3), was in all likelihood conceived by the duke though paid for by the king.54 Van Hont- horst was a threat to Gentileschi as a painter of history subjects, and the Italian must have breathed a sigh of re- lief when the Dutchman decided to return home after the assassination of their patron.

50 See G. Martin, National Gallery catalogues: the Flemish School, circa i6oo-circa 10oo, London I970, pp. 147-53, and J.S. Held, The oil sketches of Peter Paul Rubens: a critical catalogue, 2 vols., Princeton i980, vol. I, pp. 390-93, cat. nr. 29I.

5I Since Gentileschi's ceiling is not mentioned in Gerbier's "The Sommes of monnys Gentilesco hath receaved," datable around Febru- ary-March i629 (see note 42), it cannot have been finished by then.

52 The published version of the Buckingham inventory, R. Davies, "An inventory of the Duke of Buckingham's pictures, etc., at York House in i635," The Burlington Magazine Io (1907), pp. 376-82, has led to the misidentification of some entries as works by Gentileschi. "A piece where the Blind leads the Blind" (Bissell, op. cit. [note I], p. 2I5, nr. L-6, unidentified) was in fact by the Mantuan artist, Domenico Fet-

ti, and is now in Dresden; see E.A. Safarik, with G. Milantoni, Fetti, Milan 1990, pp. 90-93, cat. nr. 23. "An Italian Lady with a Heron," "A Fiction of Divers Women and a Satyr," and "The Virgin Mary, our Saviour, St. Andrew and St. Catherine" were also not by Gentileschi, despite the implication in Davies's indentation of this section of text, as was also believed by Bissell, op. cit. (note I), pp. 217, 219, cat. nrs. L-I9, L-24, L-40.

53 Carpenter, op. cit. (note 29), p. i8o. 54 Van der Doort described the picture as having been bought by

the king; see Millar "Abraham," cit. (note 6), pp. I72, 179. For the duke's possible involvement in the commission see White, op. cit. (note 4), pp. xxiv-xxv, 55.



114 JEREMY WOOD

13 Gerrit van Honthorst, Apollo and Diana, i628. The Royal Collection ? 200 1, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

14 Orazio Gentileschi, Head of a young woman. Private collection

GENTILESCHI AND CHARLES I How much work did Gentileschi actually produce for Charles I? Astonish- ingly, van der Doort records only three works by the artist in the royal collections (two of which seem to have been given to, or were painted for, Henrietta Maria).55 Only one minor work is specifically said to have been "bought by your Majesty." It was described as "a woe- man with her left breast naked her right breast covered with part of her Smock" (fig. 14),56 which survives in a cut-down and mutilated condition in a private collection.57 It was displayed in the Little Room between the Withdrawing Room and the Long Gallery at Whitehall (which contained relatively few works), placed next to two sixteenth-century Italian pictures of a beautiful (but pious) woman, the penitent Magdalen, by Francesco Salviati and Luca Cambiaso respectively, which were hung one above the other and allowed the display of dis- creet female nudity.58 Nearby were three self-portraits

55 See note i8, nrs. I, 3, and note i9, nr. 3. 56 See note i8, nr. i, and Millar "Abraham," cit. (note 6), pp. 38,

201.

57 See Bissell, op. cit. (note i), pp. 193-94, cat. nr. 68, and Finaldi, op. cit. (note 3), p. 22.

58 Millar, "Abraham," cit. (note 6), p. 38. The so-called Salviati is also described as "said to be done by Titian" (p. 201).



Orazio Gentileschi and some Netherlandish artists in London I I5

15 Peter Paul Rubens, Self-portrait. The Royal Collection D 200i, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

by foreign artists who had worked for the king: Rubens (fig. 15),59 van Dyck, and Mijtens (fig. i6),i? but not Gentileschi. The Commonwealth sale inventories add about seven more works by Gentileschi largely drawn from the lesser royal houses scattered around the capi- tal.6' In short, a visitor to Whitehall towards the end of Charles's reign would never have guessed that Gentiles- chi had been working in London for more than a decade.

If Charles inherited Buckingham's painter (rather as he inherited the duke's debts and took responsibility for his family), what did Gentileschi actually cost the king? An annuity of ? ioo had been granted to the artist about a year after his arrival in London. This has given rise to

i6 Daniel Mijtens, Self-portrait. The Royal Collection c 200I, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

some confusion, because only a few from a series of re- lated documents have been published. A warrant under the Privy Seal was issued on the 31 January i627/28, es- tablishing that the annuity should be backdated to the 25 December i626 (Appendix 2, doc. I).62 At the time ?200 was due to Gentileschi, and it is puzzling that this document should refer to ?300 as owing unless an at- tempt was being made to obtain retrospective payment for the period when Gentileschi had started to work for Buckingham in Paris.63 Two further sums of ?ioo became due for payment on 25 December i628 and 25 De- cember i629, but neither was paid. A fresh warrant was then issued on 3I January i629/30 authorizing payment

59 H.M. The Queen, Windsor Castle. See Vlieghe, op. cit. (note 48), pp. I53-57, cat. nr. I35.

6o H.M. The Queen, Hampton Court. See 0. Millar, The Tudor, Stuart and early Georgian pictures in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen, 2 vols., London i963, vol. i, p. 84, cat. nr. I I4.

6i See note i8, nrs. 5, 7, and note i9, nrs. 4-8. 62 For PRO, E 403/2565, fol. 124r, see Crin6 and Nicolson, op. cit.

(note I), p. I45, where part of the text is transcribed. It is dated to i630 (N.S.) by Bissell, op. cit. (note i), p. I05, who was confused by the reis-

sue of the warrant in that year. Bissell only gives a shortened version of the text which mistranscribes "hereof' as "hereafter." The warrant is inscribed "the last day of January in the third yeare of or Raigne," and the version of the text in E 403/2565 is dated "vltoJanuary i627" in the margin (i.e. i628 according to the New Style calendar).

63 Crin6 and Nicolson, op. cit. (note i), p. 145, suggested that this was an advance for the next two years, but that is not supported by the wording of the warrant, nor does it fit the established pattern of payments made under the Privy Seal.



ii6 JEREMY WOOD

17 Cornelis van Poelenburch, Self-portrait. Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran (National Trust for Scotland)

of ?300.64 This was procured on Gentileschi's behalf by Lord Secretary Dorchester, who seems to have acted as the artist's conduit partly because of his position as Sec- retary of State and partly because he spoke Italian (Gen- tileschi only bothered to have his letters translated if there was no alternative). With authorization from Richard Weston, Earl of Portland (who was Lord Treasurer from i628 to i635), Gentileschi received this money in three instalments on 20 April i630, 12 No- vember I 630 and 4 February I 630/31 (Appendix 3). On 13 October i 630 Gentileschi had written an importu- nate and hurried letter to Secretary Dorchester asking for unspecified sums of money which had become due

-9;~~~~~~~~~~~~ CA.LCOGRAPHVS LOINXN

2v.Mi;;ck E-i Lr.ruj

i8 Robert van Voerst after Anthony van Dyck, Robert van Voerst, engraving. London, British Museum

to him eight days before on 5 October, and for a passport that would allow him to take goods through the customs to Paris without paying duty.65 This may well have has- tened the payments of I2 November and February i63i, but no further instalments of the annuity have been identified. In short, the king only paid Gentiles- chi's pension for three years out of the 2 that the artist lived in England.

COURT ARTISTS AND THEIR REWARDS Gentileschi's status at court is revealed by comparing his treatment with the pensions or annuities awarded to the I I other artists of foreign birth employed by Charles I.66 Gentiles-

64 PRO, SO, 3/9 January i629/30); Docquet Books, PSO, 5/5 (January I629/30).

65 See note i 6 above. 66 Pensions and annuities were awarded either during the person's

life (Breenbergh, Fanelli, Gentileschi, van Honthorst, Mijtens, van

Vianen), or at his majesty's pleasure (van Dyck, Keirincx, Poelen- burch, van Voerst). It may be that this different phrasing was used if an artist was expected to remain resident at court or if a shorter visit had been agreed, although this does not seem to fit the individual cases.



Orazio Gentileschi and some Netherlandish artists in London I17

chi's annuity of ?ioo was half what van Dyck received,67 but while van Dyck was the best rewarded of any of these artists, the highest pension of all, ?250, was awarded to the duplicitous French medallist, Nicolas Briot.68 An annuity of ?ioo put Gentileschi on an equal footing with Francis Cleyn (Appendix i, doc. i), and van Honthorst (Appendix i, doc. 2),69 although in July i638 Cleyn's pension was increased to ?250, but this was tied to the production of 6oo Flemish ells of tapestry a year at the Mortlake factory.7" All three artists arrived at court before van Dyck and the grant of his pension of ?200 in i633 was clearly intended to establish his preeminence and their lesser status.

In turn, Gentileschi, van Honthorst and Cleyn were ranked more highly than a further five foreign artists who each received ?60 a year. These were Bartholo- meus Breenbergh (Appendix i, doc. 4) and Cornelis van Poelenburch (fig. I7; Appendix i, doc. 8), both Dutch landscape specialists; Alexander Keirincx (Appendix i, doc. 9), a painter from Antwerp who produced topo- graphical views for the king;7' Francesco Fanelli (Ap- pendix 2, doc. 2), the "one eyed" Italian sculptor,72 and Robert van Voerst (fig. i8; Appendix I, doc. 6), the en- graver.73 Breenbergh was not hitherto known to have traveled to England, but this visit can now be dated to

i632 or possibly early in I633.74 So far no evidence has been found that his pension was even paid, and it may be that the artist returned home to Amsterdam almost immediately. It is just conceivable that the pension was an inducement, although all the other ones discussed here were only granted after the arrival of the artist con- cerned. Christiaen van Vianen, the silversmith, was awarded a pension of ?3O in April i630 (Appendix i, doc. 3), which was increased to ?40 in i633 (Appendix I, doc. 5),75 and renewed in March i636 (Appendix i, doc. 7). The most modest pension given to an artist was the ?20 that Mijtens received from Charles I in i625,76 and this was a reduction from the ?o5 which had been awarded him by James i in I624.77

How did these levels of payment compare with the native-born artists employed by Charles I? Only two British artists were awarded annuities by Charles, and both were miniaturists. Peter Oliver received a relatively modest one of ?io in May i627,78 which was later re- placed by a large pension of ?200 in March i637,79 giving him the same status as van Dyck. An equally large pension was awarded to John Hoskins in i640, with the exceptional proviso that he should not work for any other patron.8o Since both these pensions were awarded late in Charles's reign, it is doubtful if they were ever hon-

67 ?200 a year was granted to van Dyck "during his Mats pleasure" from 25 March i633, according to a Privy Seal warrant dated I7 Octo- ber i633, see Carpenter, op. cit. (note 29), p. 65. The same document (in abbreviated form) but dated May i633 appears in PRO, SO, 3/J0,

fol. i8ov. Since the pension was not paid, a further Privy Seal warrant dated 14 December i638 was issued to settle five years' arrears (25

March i634 to 25 March i638), see Carpenter, pp. 73-74. Versions of this warrant can be found in PRO, SO, 3/I2, fol. 8v, and PRO, Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2568. It also authorized the payment of ?603 for "divers pictures by him made and sold unto his Ma`le," but while this was settled on 20 March i638/39 (PRO, Order Books [Pells], E 403/2757), it has not so far been established if the ?i,ooo was ever paid.

68 See H. Symonds, "English mint engravers of the Tudor and Stu- art periods, 1485 to i688," The Numismatic Chronicle and journal ofthe Royal Numismatic Society, 4th series, I3 (1913), pp. 364-65. My thanks to Mark Jones for this reference.

69 Although the grant of a pension suggests that van Honthorst was expected to stay in London, his visit only lasted from April/May to December i628.

70 PRO, Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2568. 7i For Keirincx's career see R.P. Townsend, "The one and only

Alexander Keirincx: correcting the misconceptions," Apollo 138 (I993), pp. 220-23, who dates the artist's arrival in England to i639 but the documents published here establish his presence one year earlier.

72 According to van der Doort; see Millar "Abraham," cit. (note 6), PP- 94-95-

73 For his biography see A. Griffiths, exhib. cat. The print in Stuart Britain, 1603-i689, London (British Museum) i998, pp. 8i-82, where it is said that van Voerst never "held any formal position as royal en- graver." However, van der Doort referred to him as "your Mats engrav- er;" see Millar, "Abraham," cit. (note 6), p. I48.

74 For works by Breenbergh owned by the king see Millar "Abra- ham," cit. (note 6), pp. 62, 86, 210, 223. There are more in the later sale inventories; Millar, op. cit. (note 7), pp. 63, 190, 26i, 262, 277, 323. See also White, op. cit. (note 4), pp. 29-30.

75 For the payment to van Vianen of arrears of six years' pension by Privy Seal warrant dated 17 February i635/36, see note I I4 below. He received the money in two instalments, on 29June i636 and 17 March 1636/37.

76 See note 28. 77 See the Privy Seal warrant dated i9 July i624, in ter Kuile, op.

cit. (note 28), pp. 26-27. 78 This was an annuity "during his life;" seeJ. Wood, "Peter Oliver

at the court of Charles I: new drawings and documents," Master Draw- ings 36 (i998), p. 148, Appendix II.

79 For the Privy Seal warrant see ibid., pp. I50-5 I, Appendix v. 8o "Annuitie of 200"... for his life... provided always that he works

not for any other;" PRO, SO, 3/12, fol. unnumbered (April i640); cited by Wood, op. cit. (note 78), p. 144, note 59.



iI8 JEREMY WOOD

ored. John de Critz, who was Serjeant Painter from i605 to i642, is documented as receiving a much more modest annuity of kio in i627,8i reflecting the skilled but artisan nature of his work.

These figures need to be set against whether an individual had accommodation provided for him, or whether payment for rent was provided by separate warrant under the Privy Seal. Hubert le Sueur, the French sculptor, did not receive a pension but was paid Jioo a year for the rent of his house in Great St Bartholomew's Street, West Smithfield (Appendix 4, doc. J),82 and such was the importance of his workshop that he was one of the few artists to receive payment with some measure of dependability. In addition, van Vianen received payment "for building of his Shopp" in a Privy Seal warrant dated 17 February i636.83

The accommodation provided for artists was a major part of their patronage. In "The Sommes of Monnys Gentilesco hath recaeved" Gerbier wrote: "Besydes all his housse furnishet from top to too; wich will amount more than 4,000Qi."84 Jf Gentileschi's accommodation at York House actually cost this much, as some previous writers have thought, 8 it was a truly astonishing sum, and suggests that he was treated as a prince among painters. Although Gerbier wrote sourly of the money that Gentileschi "squised out of' Buckingham's purse, it seems unlikely that the painter would be accommodated with as much magnificence as the duke. It is worth considering what ?4,000 would actually have bought at this date. One of the most expensive works of art commissioned by the king, Rubens's ceiling paintings in the Banqueting House, Whitehall, cost a mere JJ3,ooo by

comparison.86 ?4,000 would cover the cost of building a medium-size country house (Irmingland Hall, Norfolk, was built by Sir Nathaniel Bacon for this sum).87 In fact, the figure in the document should be read as a sub-total-as is clear from its layout in the original-and not as the cost of this particular item. The previous entries amount to ?3,500, so the refurbishment of Gentileschi's accommodation cost ?500. This was still a substantial amount since one of the less expensive masques, The fortunate isles and their union presented in i625, cost ?400.88 ?500 was the standard price for a present given to a foreign visitor of some eminence when leaving the court. One example is the diamond ring and hatband presented to Rubens on his departure, which cost exact- ly 50oo early in i630.89 Another example is provided by a Privy Seal warrant of 21 May i63i authorizing payment of ?o5? to John Hoskins for miniature portraits of Charles X and Henrietta Maria set with i9 diamonds.90 These were given to Antonio Ponte di Scarnifigi, ambassador from the Duchy of Savoy,9' and the diamonds no doubt cost far more than the portraits.

The expenditure on Gentileschi before i 629 suggests that at least in the period immediately after his arrival, every effort was being made to keep him in London. It is hard to say whether the king was more or less generous than Buckingham, since he was responsible for more foreign artists and made a different kind of provision for them, which included specific payment for their accommodation. The largest recurring cost of this kind was the ?ioo paid to le Sueur for the rent of his house (Ap- pendix 4, doc. i), already mentioned. Le Sueur's lodging was no doubt expensive because he ran his workshop

8I PRO, Exchequer of Receipt, E 403/2370/4 (A booke ofannuitjies and pentions payable out of his Maties Exchequer and other his Maties re- venewes Anno Dm i627), fol. 17r, "Annuityes and Pentons payable out of the Severall farmes and other his Mats Reuenewes followeinge vizt.. John de Cretes io-o-o."

82 Cited briefly in C. Avery, "Hubert Le Sueur, the 'Unworthy Praxiteles' of King Charles i," Walpole Society 48 (i982), p. 202, doc. 54. For a reference to le Sueur among residents in the parish of St Bartholomew-the-Great in i635, see Edmond, op. cit. (note WI), pp. I 62-63.

83 PRO, Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2568, and Exchequer of Receipt, Warrants for Issues, E 404/I 55 (numbered "37" in pencil, "42" in ink). Briefly mentioned by Lightbown, op. cit. (note i5), p. 434, citing PRO, Pellis Exitus, E 403/I750.

84 See note 42. 85 As suggested by Sainsbury, op. cit. (note iI), p. 121; Sainsbury,

op. cit. (note 33), p. 3 II; Bissell, op. cit. (note s), p. 5 I; and Finaldi, op. cit. (note 3), p. 17.

86 See Sainsbury, op. cit. (note 33), pp. i84-85, 202-05.

87 See M. Airs, The Tudor andJacobean country house: a building history, Stroud 1995, p. ioo. Trentham Hall, Staffordshire (built between i630 and i639) cost ?6,ooo.

88 S. Orgel and R. Strong, Inigo jones: the theatre of the Stuart court, 2 vols., London, Berkeley & Los Angeles 1973, vol. I, p. 369. In 163i a masque, Love s triumph through Callipolis, cost ?6oo, with ?300 more for costumes; ibid., vol. s, p. 405.

89 See Sainsbury, op. cit. (note 33), pp. 145-46. go PRO, Warrant Books, General, LC 5/132, fol. numbered 355, to

"John Hawkins." 9i For the circumstances surrounding this gift see AJ. Loomie

(ed.), Ceremonies of Charles I: the note books ofjohn Finet, 1628-1641, New York i987, p. 104.



Orazio Gentileschi and some Netherlandish artists in London II9

i9 Wenceslaus Hollar, detail from the Aerial view of the west central district of London, showing Somerset House, etching. London, British Museum

from his home and needed space to make large-scale sculptures as well as to accommodate his assistants. A slightly different arrangement was made for Mijtens, who in i624 was granted a house "at the upper end" of St Martin's Lane for twelve and a half years.92 When van Dyck first arrived in London in i632 his "Dyet & lodgeing" was provided by Edward Norgate for two months at a cost of I 5 shillings a day (?45 in total) until a house was ready in the parish of St Anne Blackfriars, within the city walls.93 It seems surprising that van Dyck was not housed closer to the court in St-Martin- in-the-Fields or Westminster. The most likely reason is the status of St Anne's parish as a "liberty" of the city with exemption from search, arrest and taxation.94 In May i635, Robert van Voerst was provided with ?40 a year for the rent of a house (Appendix 4, doc. 2). In i637, Poelenburch was accommodated in a house in St Anne's Street, Westminster (close to the Abbey) at an annual cost of ?50 (Appendix 4, doc. 3), before being moved in the following year to a house in Orchard Street, also in Westminster, where he lived near Kei- rincx (Appendix 4, doc. 4). A house in the same street was provided for the silversmith Christiaen van Vianen between i633 and i640 and the total for his rent during this period came to ?D95 (Appendix 4, doc. 5). From this it emerges that Gentileschi was well looked after at the start of his residence in London, because he did not have to pay for his lodging or food and received a substantial annuity, but matters deteriorated following the death of Buckingham, for there was no royal provision for his accommodation nor was his annuity paid regu- larly.

HENRIETTA MARIA The death of his patron and the indifference of the king were circumstances which might have encouraged Gentileschi to leave the English court as fast as possible. Only one reason can explain his staying: the favor of Henrietta Maria (fig. 4). That he was given her protection is shown by one exceptional privilege far more revealing than the purchase of mere works of art: in i639 the queen gave permission for him to be buried "sotto l'Altare maggiore" in her Catholic chapel at Somerset

92 British Library, Grants of Charles Prince of Wales, 1617-25, Harleian MSS 17i8. The document is published (without location) in ter Kuile, op. cit. (note 28), pp. 27-28. For reference to Mijtens in the

poor-rate books of the parish, see Edmond, op. cit. (note 14), p. 155. 93 See Edmond, op. cit. (note 14), pp. IOO, 125, 203, note 296. 94 See ibid., p. 64.



120 JEREMY WOOD

20 Orazio Gentileschi, Joseph and Potiphar's wife. The Royal Collection c 200 1,

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

House (fig. I9).95 Their shared Catholic faith, it seems, was a very strong bond, for although Gentileschi moved from the French to the English court soon after the royal wedding, there is no reason to think that Henrietta Maria, who was then only I 5 years old, was at all informed about art,96 but within five years the first substantial painting Gentileschi made for the king became her property.

This work was the Lot and his daughters (fig. i i) now in Bilbao. Van der Doort recorded the picture in the Queen's Withdrawing Chamber at Greenwich, and noted that it had been brought there from Whitehall.97 Be- cause he compiled inventories of the royal collection in the late i630S it has been thought that the transfer of the picture took place then. However, a payment "ffor

payntinge and guildinge one fframe for a peece of Lott which was caryed to Greenwich" is included in a document that is dated as early as February i630/3i and covers work carried out over several previous years (Ap- pendix 5). The gilding of the frame was done by Richard Greenbury who is described as "Paynter to the Queene." It is therefore clear that although Gentileschi's Lot and his daughters was almost certainly paid for by the king,98 the picture was appropriated by Henrietta Maria before or during i630. It was finally moved to Inigo Jones's Queen's House when the interior was completed, which cannot have been before i637 when Nicholas Stone was still carving fireplaces for the main rooms.99 Payments in i633/34 for the frames of the Finding of Moses, now

95 R. Soprani, Le vite de'pittori, scoltori et architetti Genovesi, e de' forastieri, che in Genova operarono con alcuni ritratti de gli stessi, Genoa i674, p. 317 (printed as 318); see also R. Needham and A. Webster, Somerset House: past and present, London 1905, p. I 17. Soprani's report was accepted by Bissell, op. cit (note i), p. 62, and Finaldi, op. cit. (note 3), p. 32. My thanks to Edward Schofield of the Somerset House Trust for informing me that no tablet to Gentileschi survives in the building.

96 According to Bissell, op. cit. (note I), p. 5 i, Gentileschi thought Henrietta Maria "would want a Catholic painter in England."

97 See note i 8, nr. 3. 98 It is likely to have been part of a payment of ?200 to the artist,

said to be for "pictures," settled by Privy Seal warrant of 2I May i 630 (PRO, SO, 3/9) which, because "since lost or otherwise soe mislayed" according to PRO, Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2566, had to be reissued on 23 June i 63 I . Only the latter warrant is cited in Bissell, op. cit. (note I), p. 105.

99 See H.M. Colvin (ed.), The history of the king's works, vol. 4: I485-i660, pt. 2, London I982, p. I 19.




2ai Adriaen van Stalbemt and jan van Belcamp, Aview of Greenwi'ch with the Queen's House. The Royal Collection ? 2001, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

in a private collection, and Joseph and Potiphar's wife at Hampton Court (fig. 20),I?o may also have marked their transfer to Greenwich Palace, as this was too early for their installation at the Queen's House. These payments are found among many items relating to the royal com- plex at Greenwich and are not said specifically to be for Jones's building, which was then under construction. Its half-built appearance in the early i630s can be seen in Adriaen van Stalbemt's view (fig. 2I) which includes

the figures of the king and queen in the foreground, at- tended by Inigo Jones, Endymion Porter, and Richard Weston, Earl of Portland.'0'

How important was Henrietta Maria's protection for Gentileschi, and what income would he have derived from her patronage? In all only five of his paintings (including the ceiling of the Great Hall at the Queen's House) are recorded in her possession, but they were large works and a significant proportion of the limited

soo See Bissell, op. cit. (note i), p. io6, with further references. ioi See Millar, op. cit. (note 6o), vol. i, p. iii, cat. nr. I97, andJ.

Harris and G. Higgott, exhib. cat. Inigo Jones: complete architectural

drawings, New York (The Drawing Center) i989, pp. 64-65, i9i, with the identification ofJones in the foreground, correcting Millar.



122 JEREMY WOOD

output of his final years in England. They included Lot and his daughters (fig. i i), The finding of Moses and Jo- seph and Potiphar s wife,'02 already mentioned, as well as the ceiling which Gentileschi painted for the Great Hall at the Queen's House. This was valued at ?6oo in the appraisal of the King's Goods which took place around i650,103 and this almost certainly reflected the amount paid to Gentileschi,104 which would have done much to secure his financial position.

Henrietta Maria's seriousness as a connoisseur should not be exaggerated. When the Barberini sent a gift of pictures ostensibly to her (but covertly hoping to influence her husband), the papal agent recorded her disappointment when she thought she had merely been sent works of art and her delight when she realized that some holy images and relics were included. The pres- ents she most enjoyed receiving from Rome were such things as artificial flowers and fruits, a reliquary contain- ing a bone of Saint Martina, virgin and martyr (with a summary of the saint's life "by way of exhortation to the queen"), and a copy of Antonio Bosio's Roma sotterranea of i632, with a flattering allusion to the (supposedly British) Empress Helena's restoration of ancient church- es.'05 When discussions were under way with Jordaens for a ceiling in the Queen's House, the king took an active interest in the scheme and was sent the artist's mo- dello,io6 but no comments from the queen are recorded, even though this was for the decoration of her own house.

The selection of pictures which Henrietta Maria took to Colombes in her retirement (among them two Genti- leschis), suggests that she valued portraits of her rela- tives and images of the Holy Family above all other subjects. A "Nostre Dame with a Jesus in her Armes of a Moderne hand," perhaps that of Giovanni Baglione, now at Kensington Palace (fig. 22),I07 was hanging in the

queen's bedchamber at Colombes at the time of her death. This location suggests the work gave her spiritual inspiration but perhaps also aesthetic pleasure despite its stiff and wooden character. This preference is all the more surprising given that Henrietta Maria had one of the most accomplished living painters of domestic scenes from the life of the Virgin at her disposal in Gentileschi, but she made no use of his skills in this area, preferring to employ him as a painter of Old Testament subjects, some with unsavory themes of incest and adultery which seem incompatible with her prudish tastes. ?8

CONCLUSION Gentileschi was no doubt a great novelty when he arrived in London but Charles I swiftly tired of his work, and his later survival depended on the queen's favor, even though her interest in painting was more limited than that of her husband. Works paid for by the king under various Privy Seal warrants were swiftly des- patched to her palaces. Gentileschi remained isolated at court, and never worked for the leading aristocratic patrons and collectors (quite possibly because of the ar- rogance of his behavior and disinclination to paint portraits).

At various times during his stay in London Gentiles- chi must have measured himself against his Netherland- ish rivals, notably van Honthorst and van Dyck, both of whom were capable of painting the large narrative subjects to which he aspired. Without the benefit of hind- sight, Gentileschi could not know that the former was never to return to the Stuart court after i628, nor that the latter would become exclusively absorbed in court portraiture from i632 onward. Other foreign artists who specialized in landscape or perspective views were less of a threat, and Gentileschi clearly had no ambitions as a portrait painter. The various financial arrangements

I02 The latter two works were probably part of the last recorded payment to Gentileschi Of ?400 "in reward of service," under a Privy Seal warrant of I4 June i632 (PRO, Privy Seal Books [Auditors], E 403/2566), which was paid promptly on 27 July (PRO, Order Books [Pells], E 403/2751, fol. numbered 124). The warrant but not the final payment is identified by Bissell, op. cit. (note I), p. io6.

503 Millar, op. cit. (note 7), p. I37. 504 A ceiling commissioned from Jacob Jordaens for the Cabinet in

the same building (together with other painted decorations for the room) was to cost ?680; see Sainsbury, op. cit. (note 33), pp. 252, 254.

1o5 J. Berington, The memoirs of Gregorio Panzani; giving an account of his agency in England, in the years i634, I635, i636: translated from the Italian original, and nowfirst published, Birmingham 1793, p. i96.

io6 See Sainsbury, op. cit. (note 33), p. 222.

107 The attribution was changed from Baglione to "Anonymous" in Levey, op. cit. (note i8), pp. I78-79, cat. no. 7I 5.

Io8 It may be revealing that she took the Finding of Moses to her house at Colombes, not Lot and his daughters nor Joseph and Potiphar's wife.



Orazio Gentileschi and some Netherlandish artists in London I23

-~~~~~~~

22 Attributed to Giovanni Baglione, The Virgin and Child with angels. The Royal Collection c 200I, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

made for this fractious community of artists suggests that Gentileschi's potential usefulness was rated signifi- cantly above the specialists who worked in what were considered less elevated genres (where supply exceeded demand), and on a level with that of van Honthorst and Cleyn.

Gentileschi's career was thus very different from that of the other foreign Catholic painter employed by Char- les I, van Dyck. The contrast between these two artists is instructive, since van Dyck was as accommodating and industrious as Gentileschi was truculent and unproduc- tive. Gentileschi's presence may also help explain why van Dyck was given so few opportunities to paint allego- ries, mythologies or stories from the Bible. At any rate, the conventional view that placed history subjects above mere portraits was turned on its head at court, where the likenesses of famous men and women were of the ut- most importance, and van Dyck was kept busy supply- ing this need. Gentileschi was therefore less in competition with his contemporaries than with the flood of great sixteenth-century Italian pictures which were shipped to London during the i630s, sating the appetite of his potential patrons.

DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY

UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM



124 JEREMY WOOD

Appendix i

Pensions and annuities paid to Netherlandish (and other northern European) artists

Doc. i. Pension of 1ioo a year granted to Francis Cleyn, by Privy Seal warrant dated May (or 4 June) i625.109 PRO, SO, 3/8, unnumbered.

[May i625]. Cleyne [in margin]. A pension of ioo' by the yeare, graunted, to ffrancis Cleyne during his life. Subscr, and procured vt svpra [Mr Secretary Moreton].

Doc. 2. Pension of i0oo a year granted to van Honthorst from 29 September i628, by Privy Seal warrant dated (I 3) Novem- ber i628.110 PRO, Docquet Books, PSO, 5/5, fol. unnumbered."

[November I 628]. Van Honthorst [in margin]. A penton of Ioo0i p ann for the said Gerrit Van Honthorst during his life, to comence from Michas [29 September] last. His Mas pleasure signified vt svpra [Lord Secretary Dorchester].

Doc. 3. Pension of T3o granted to Christiaen van Vianen from 25 March i630, datable April i630. PRO, SO, 3/9, unnumbered. " 2

[April i630]. Van Vianen [in margin]. A Penton graunted vnto Christian Van Vianen of 30 i p[er] ann[um] during his n[atu]rall life qrterly. To comence from or Lady day [25 March] last, and is by order of the Lo: Viscount Dorchester and by him p[ro]cur[ed].

Doc. 4. Annuity of ?6o granted to Bartholomeus Breenbergh, to start from 25 March I633. PRO, SO, 3/10, unnumbered.

[March I632/33]. Breenborch [in margin]. A Grant to Bar- tholmew Breenborch gent of an Annuitie of 60" during his life: The first paymr thereof to begin from or Lady Daie next ensu-

ing [25 March i633]. Subscr[ibed] vpon significacon of his Ma.tes pleasure, by Mr Secr: Windebanke."13 And procurd by him.

Doc. 5. Grant of an annuity of ?4O to Christiaen van Vianen from 25 March i633. PRO, SO, 3/IO, unnumbered.

[March i632/33]. Van Vianan [in margin]. A graunt to Chris- tian Van Vianen gent of an Anuitie of 40Q1 during his Life. The first payment thereof begun from or Lady Daie next ensuing. Subscribed vpon significaton of his Mates pleasure by Mr Secr Windebanke. And Procured by him.

Doc. 6. Annuity of ?6o granted to Robert van Voerst, to start on 25 March i635, datable May i635. PRO, SO, 3/ I I, fol. unnumbered.

[May i635]. Voerst [in margin]. An annuitie of 6o.1" graunted vnto the said Robert Voerst to bee paid out of the Excheqr quarterly the first paymt to bee made as due att or Lady day last past, and to be continued during his Ma.ts pleasure. Subscr, signified and procured vt supra [Mr Secretary Windebank].

Doc. 7. Grant of a pension of ?4O to Christiaen van Vianen; to commence from 25 March I636; datable February I635/36. PRO, O,3/I I, unnumbered. 4

[February I635/36]. Van Vianen [in margin]. A penton of: 40:11 p[er] annum vnto Christian van Vianen gent paiable out of the xcheqr quarterly equall portons to Comence from our Ladie day next & to contynue during his Mates pleasure. By order of Mr Secretary Windebanke. And procured by him.

Doc. 8. Pension of ?6o granted to Cornelis van Poelenburch, to start from 25 March I637, datable April I638. PRO, SO, 3/11 , fol. unnumbered.

[April I638]. Polenborch [in margin]. A penton of 6o' p[er] ann graunted to Cornelius de Polenborch during his Mates pleas-

0og Cited briefly in W.G. Thomson, A history of tapestry from the earliest times until the present day, ed. E.P. and E.S. Thomson, Wakefield I973, p. 282. Payments documented from 4 August i625 to i 8 February i63I; PRO, Excheq- uer of Receipt, E 403/2370/2 (Pencoes per Carolum Dominum Rem concesse), fol. I5r.

iio Payment of ?ioo recorded on Io December i629; see PRO, Exchequer of Receipt, E 403/2370/2, fol. 23r.

iii This entry is duplicated in PRO, SO, 3/9, fol. I2OV. Another version of the document is mentioned briefly in 0. Millar, "Charles i, Honthorst, and van Dyck," The Burlington Magazine 96 (1954), p. 36. See also White, op. cit. (note 4), p. xxiv.

112 See also PRO, Docquet Books, PSO, 5/5 (April i630). First published by Lightbown, op. cit. (note I5), p. 430.

113 Sir Francis Windebank (1582-i646), Clerk of the Signet and subse- quently Secretary of State (I632-40).

11 4 First published by Lightbown, op. cit. (note I 5), p. 432. Payment of arrears of pension for six years (three years at k3o, and three years at ?40) together with other remittances (?336 I IS. 6d. in total) were made by Privy Seal warrant dated 17 February i635/36; see PRO, Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2568, fol. iv; PRO, Exchequer of Receipt, Warrants for Issues, E 404/155, numbered 37 and 42. Order for payment of one instalment (? I 56) was made on 27 June i636 (payment dated 29 June i636; PRO, Order Books [Pells], E 403/2755); and an order for the amount remaining (?i8o I Is. 6d.) was made on i i March i636/37 (payment dated i7 March i636/37; PRO, Order Books [Au- ditors], E 403/28ii, fol. 4Ir, numbered 77, and PRO, Order Books [Pells], E 403/2755).




ure. To be paid quarterly. And to comence as above said."`5 Subscr[ibed] by order & procured vt svpra [Mr Secretary Windebank].

Doc. 9. Pension of ?6o granted to Alexander Keirincx, to start from 25 March i638, datable April i638. PRO, SO, 3/I1, fol. unnumbered.

[April i638]. Keyrinx [in margin]. A penton of 60.1 p [annum] graunted to Alexander Keyrinx during his Ma.ts pleasure, to be paid quarterly out of th'exchecqr And to comence from Or

Lady day wch was in the yeare of Or Lord God I637. Subscr By Order, & procur vt svpra [Mr Secretary Windebank].

Appendix 2

Pensions and annuities paid to Italian artists

Doc. i. Annuity of ? ioo granted to Orazio Gentileschi, to start from 25 December i626, by a Privy Seal warrant dated 31 January i627/28. PRO, Exchequer of Receipt, Warrants for Issues, E 404/153, unnumbered. "6

Charles by the grace of God King of England Scotland ffrance and Ireland defendor of the ffaith et To the Trer and Vnder Trer of our Excheqr for the time being greeting. Whereas Ho- ratio Gentileschj gent according to a graunt from vs by Lres patents vnder our great Seale of England is to receive an An- nuitie of One hundred pounds by the yeare from the ffeast of the Birth of our Lord God last past before the date hereof as by the said Lres patents more at large may appeare, And for as- much as it is our intent that he shall receive the benefitt of the said Annuitie from the time of his first coming into this our Kingdome, which as wee are credibly informed was in the yeare of our Lord God One thousand six hundred twenty six; Wee do hereby will and command you out of our treasure remayning in the receipt of our said Excheq forthwth to pay or cause to be paid vnto the said Horatio Gentileschj or his As- signes the some of three hundred pounds in full satisfacton of so much due at the feast of the Birth of our Lord God last past before the date hereof for three yeares allowance of the said Annuitie from the feast of the birth of or Lord God in the said yeare one thousand six hundred twenty six, the same to be paid without any accompt imprest or other charge to be sett

vpon him his executors or assignes for the same or any part thereof. And these our Ires shalbe sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalf. Given vnder Or Privie Seale at Or Pallace of Westminster the last day ofJanuary in the third yeare of our raigne.

Doc. 2. Pension of ?6o granted to Francesco Fanelli, to start from 25 March i632/33; datable April i634. PRO, SO, 3/I0, fol. 230r, unnumbered.

[Aprill i634]. ffanelli [in margin]. A penton of 6o'j p ann for ffrancesco ffanelli during his life, out of his Mats Exchecqer. And to comence from our Lady day [25 March] i632 [under- lined]. Subscr[ibed] vpon significaton of his Ma.t' pleasure & procur[ed] vt svpra [Mr Secretary Windebank].

Appendix 3

Payments of Gentileschi's annuity

Doc. i. Order for ?ioo dated I7 March I629/30; payment dated 20 April I630. PRO, Order Books (Pells), E 403/2749, fol. 8v, numbered io.

[lune duodecimo die April I630]. Horatio Gentileschi gent part of 3oo" areres of a penton of Cli per annu[m] [in margirn]. By order dated this xvijth of March I629 unto Horatio Genti- leschi gent the some of one hundred pounds in parte of CCClI being in full satisfacton of so much due att the ffeast of the birth of or Lord God last I629 for three yeares allowance of an annuity of C'i p annu[m] from the ffeast of the Birth of or Lord God I626, p lre de privato Sigillo dat vltJanuarij I629. R Wes- ton.

[in margin]: C'l Carne.tt7

Doc. 2. Order for ? I 00 dated 3 November I 630; payment dated I2 November I630. PRO, Order Books (Pells), E 403/2749,

fol. I3ov, numbered 259. I8

[Veneris xijo Novembr I630]. Horatio Gentilesci Pt of 3001 for the arrere of an annuity of 0ool per annu[m] [in margin]. By order dated iijtlo Novembr I630 To Horatio Gentileschi gent the some of One Hundred pounds in part of CCC' in full satisfac-

I115 "From or Lady day wch was in the yeare of o' Lord God i637." I i6 This copy of the document could not be found again during a recent visit

to the PRO (200 1), but another version with minor variations in spelling exists in PRO, Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2565.

I557 William Carne (b. 1599), Teller of the Exchequer, see G.E. Aylmer, The

king's servants: the civil service of Charles I, i625-i642, London iq6i, pp. 135, 3i8-i9.

ii8 The same entry is to be found in PRO, Order Books (Auditors), E 403/2807, p. numbered 14, which is cited in Finaldi, op. cit. (note 3), p. 34, note 12.



126 JEREMY WOOD

ton of soe much due vnto him for the arrere of an annuity of C' p annu[m] for three yeares ended att the ffeast of the birth of our Lord God i627 per Ire de privato Sigillo dat vIt January I627. R Weston.

[in margin]: C' Squibb." 9

Doc. 3. Order for ?ioo dated 17 January i630/3 1; payment dated 4 February i630/31. PRO, Order Books (Pells), E 403/2749, fol. i87v, numbered 372.

[Veneris iiijt' ffebruary i630]. Horatio Gentileschi gent full of 300o arreare of a penton [in margin]. By Order dated xvijoJanu- ary I 630 To Horatio Gentileschi gent the some of C" in full of CCC1 in full satisfacton of soe much due vnto him for the arreare of an annuity of C' per annu[m] for 3 yeares ended att Xmas I627 p Ire de privat Sigillo dat vlt January I627. R Wes- ton.

[in margin]: C" Brook.

Appendix 4

Payments of rent for the houses of artists and sculptors

Doc. i. Order for payment (made to Philip Burlamachi) of ?ioo per annum for the rent of Hubert le Sueur's house to continue annually; Privy Seal warrant dated 28 January i630/31. 2o PRO, Exchequer of Receipt, Warrants for Issues, E 403/153, Part I, numbered 46 in pencil.'2'

Charles by the grace of God King of England Scotland ffrance and Ireland defendor of the faith e.t To the Trer and Vnder Trer of our Excheq for the time being, Greeting. Whereas there is due vnto Phillip Burlamachj the some of one hundred pounds for one whole yeares rent of a house for Mons.r Hubert Le Seur, which we are gratously pleased shalbe paid vnto him, Our will and pleasure therefore is, that out of such our treasure as is or shalbe remayning in the Receipt of our Excheq, you cause payment to be made vnto the said Phillip Burlamachj or his Assignes of the some of One hundred pounds without im-

prest accompt or other charge to be sett on him or them for the same And likewise that you continue the same payment yearely, vntill our royall pleasure be declared to the contrary And these our lres shalbe your sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalf. Given vnder Or Privy Seale at our Pallace of Westmin- ster the Eight and Twentith day ofJanuary in the Sixe yeare of our raigne.

[in margin]: Jo: Packer.'22 Burlamachj. warr:

Doc. 2. Order for payment of ?40 per annum to Robert van Voerst for the rent of his house; Privy Seal warrant dated May i635. PRO, SO, 3/II, unnumbered.

[May i635]. Voerst [in margin]. A warrant to th'excheq for payment vnto Robert Voerst Graver or his assignes the some of 40.1i p ann quarterly for his house rent to comence from Or

Lady day last and to continue the same during his Ma.ts pleasure Subscr his Mats pleasure signified by M.r Secr Windebanke and procured by him.

Doc. 3. Order for payment of ?5o per annum for the rent of Cornelis van Poelenburch's house in St Anne's Street, West- minster, beginning 25 March i637 and paid until 25 March 1638;123 Privy Seal warrant dated I5 November i637. PRO, Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E. 403/2568.124

Edward Rudge Gent [in margin]. Charles by the grace of God King of England Scotland ffrance & Ireland defendor of the faith et To the Trer and Vnder Trer of our Excheq now and for the time being greeting. Whereas Edward Rudge gent hath lately lett vnto vs a Tenem Garden & yard situate in St Annes Streete in Westm for and vnder the yearly rent of fifty pounds for the vse of Cornelius Van Polenburgh a Dutch Paynter. Our will and pleasure therefore is and wee doe hereby will and comand you out of or treasure from time to time remayning in the receipt of our said Excheq to pay or cause to be paid vnto the said Edward Rudge his Executors Administrators or As- signes the said yearly rent of fifty pounds by the yeare for the said house lett vnto vs as aforesaid for soe long time as the said Cornelius Van Poelenburgh shall inhabit the same. The first payment thereof to begin and comence from the feast of

119 Arthur Squibb (1578-i650), Teller of the Exchequer, and later Claren- ceux King-of-Arms, see Aylmer, op. cit. (note I 17), pp. 90, 387-88, and G.E. Aylmer, The State's servants: the civil service of the English republic, 1649-i660, London 1973, pp. 2i6-17.

a20 Payment of sioo was ordered on 3 February i630/3i and made on 3 March 1630/31. PRO, Order Books (Pells), E 403/2749, fol. numbered 400, verso. Further payments of rent were authorized under a Privy Seal warrant of 2i August i632 (for L200), and by a warrant of 22 May i635 (for k2t6 s5s. 8d.), which was reissued to make additional payments that can be followed in some detail during the later I 630s.

121 See also British Library, Add. MSS i8,764, fol. 22r, 26v; PRO, Docquet Books, PSO, 5/5 January i630/31); SO, 3/10 (January i630/31); Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2566, fol. i8r.

122 John Packer, Clerk of the Privy Seal, formerly secretary to the Duke of Buckingham, see Aylmer, op. cit. (note I17), pp. I56-57, 358.

123 Order for payment of ?25 dated i8 December i637; payment made on 22 December i637; PRO, Order Books (Pells), E 403/2756. Order for payment of ?25 dated 23 May i638; payment made on 28 May i638; PRO, Order Books (Pells), E 403/2757.

124 See also PRO, SO, 3/I (November i637).




th'Annunciaton of our blessed Lady St Mary the Virgin last past before the date hereof and to be paid qrterly at the fower most vsuall feasts or Termes of the Yeare, that is to say at the feast of the Nativity of St John Baptist, St Michaell th'Archan- gell, the birth of our Lord God, and th'Annunciacon of the blessed Virgin Mary by even and equall portons, and to continue as aforesaid. And these our Ires shalbe yor sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalfe. Given vnder our privy seale at our Pallace of Westm the fifteenth day of November in the Thirteenth yeare of our raigne. Will: Packer dept Tho: Packer.

[in margin]: The yearely Rent of fifty pounds for a house let vnto his Ma.ty for ye vse of Cornelius Van Polenburgh a Dutch paynter. To comence fro Or Lady day i637 & to continue soe long as ye Sd paynter shall inhabite ye same. to be paid quarterly. xvto Novembr I637.

Doc. 4. Order for payment of ?6o per annum to Lawrence Swetnam for the rent of some houses in Orchard Street, West- minster, for the use of Cornelis van Poelenburch and Alexan- der Keirincx; beginning 29 September I638 and paid until 24 June i639;125 Privy Seal warrant dated 3I July i638. 26 PRO, Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2568.

Laurence Swetnam gent [in margin]. Charles by the grace of God King of England Scotland ffrance & Ireland Defender of the faith et To the Trer and Vnder=trer of our Excheqr now and for the time being, Greeting. Whereas Laurence Swetnam of Westm gent hath lately lett vnto vs sevall houses and Gar- dens situate in Orchard Streete in our City of Westm for and Vnder the yearely rent of Threescore pounds for the vse of and dwellings of Cornelius Van Polenburgh and Alexander Key- rinx two Dutch Painters Our will and pleasure therefore is and wee doe hereby will and comand you out of our treasure fro[m] time to time remayning in the Receipt of our said Ex- cheqr to pay or cause to be paid vnto the said Laurence Swet- nam his Executors Admrs or assignes the said yearely rent of threescore pounds for the said houses lett vnto vs as aforesaid for soe long time as the said Cornelius Van Polenburgh and Alexander Keyrinx, or any other by or appointmt shall inhabite the same, the said some of Three score pounds p annu to be paid quarterly at the fower most vsuall feasts and Termes of the yeare that is to say at the Birth of our Lord God, the An- nunciaton of the blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of st John Baptist and the feast of St Michaell th'archangell by even and equall portons and to continue as aforesaid; The first paymt

whereof to begin and comence from the feast of St Michaell the Archangell next ensuing the date of these pnts provided al- waies and wee doe will and comand that a former Privy Seale for paymt of fiftie pounds p Ann to Edward Rudge for a house let to vs for the vse of Cornelius Van Polenburgh aforesaid be cancelled made voyd and of none effect from the time of the comencemt of the rent of threescore pounds by the yeare above mentoned. And these Or Lres shalbe yor sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalfe. Given vnder Or Privy Seal at our Court of Oatelands the last day ofJuly in the ffourteenth yeare of our Raigne. Willm Packer Dept Tho: Packer.

[in margin]:. lx.i p Annu[m]. ffor ye rent of sevall houses & gar- dens lett vnto his Matie for the vse of two Dutch Painters. vltjo Julij I638.

Doc. 5. Order for payment of ?'95 to Henry Baker for the rent (L3o annually) of Christiaen van Vianen's house in Or- chard Street, Westminster, commencing 29 September I633, and due for six and a half years from that date, the last payment made for the quarter due on 25 March i640;127 Privy Seal warrant dated i8 February I638/39. PRO, Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2568.t28

Henry Baker gent [in margin]. Charles by the grace of God King of England Scotland ffrance and Ireland defender of the faith et To the Trer and Vnder=Trer of our Excheq now and for the time being, Greeting. Whereas Henry Baker gent hath lately lett vnto vs a Tenemt & Garden situate in Orchard streete in Westminster for and vnder the yearely rent of Thirty pounds for the vse of Christian Van Viana, Our will and pleasure therefore is, and wee doe hereby will and comand you out of our treasure from time to time remayning in ye Receipt of our said Excheq to pay or cause to be paid vnto the said Henry Baker his Executors Administrators or Assignes the said yearely rent of Thirty pounds for the said house and garden lett vnto vs as aforesaid for soe long time as the said Christian Van Via- na or any other by our appointment shall inhabit the same, The first payment thereof to beginne and comence from the feast of st Michaell th'archangell which was in the yeare of our Lord God One thousand sixe hundred thirty and three before the date hereof and to be paid quarterly att the foure most vsuall feasts or termes of the yeare, That is to say att the feast of the birth of our Lord God, th'annunciaton of the blessed Vir- gin Mary, the Nativity of St John Baptist, and st Michaell th'archangell by even and equall portons and to continue as

125 Order for ?45 payment "due for three quarters of a yeare ended at Mid- somer last i639" dated 27 July i639; payment made on 9 August i639. PRO, Order Books (Pells), E 403/2758.

s26 See also PRO, SO, 3/II (July I638).

I27 Order for payment of ?195 dated 27 April i640; payment made on I May i640. PRO, Order Books (Pells), E 403/2759, fol. numbered 23.

i28 See also PRO, SO, 3/12 (February i638/39).



128

aforesaid. And these our Lres shalbe yor sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalfe. Given vnder our Privy Seale att our Pallace of Westm the eighteenth day of ffebruary in the four- teenth yeare of our Raigne. W Lane.

[in margin]: for the rent of a house & Garden for the vse of Christian Van Viana. xxx p Annum. xviij0 ffebruar i638.

Appendix 5

Payments to Richard Greenbury in i630/3 I

Privy Seal warrant dated I 5 February I 630/31 for payment of ?300 to Richard Greenbury for various items including gilding the frame of Gentileschi's Lot and his daughters and work on the stretcher and canvas of the "greate peece" for van Dyck. PRO, Exchequer of Receipt, Warrants for Issues, E 403/I53, Part i, numbered 31 in pencil.`29

Charles by the grace of God King of England Scotland ffrance and Ireland defendor of the faith &' To the Trer and Vndertrer of our Excheq for the time being, greeting. Whereas Richard Greenbury Painter to our dearest Consort the Queene hath disbursed severall somes of money for the particulars hereafter mentoned vizt; ffor one great picture of our late deare mother

Queene Anne with her hors and dogs,'30 ffor one picture of a dutchman after Johnson, ffor one Coppie of Venus and Mer- cury after Corredgio,'3' ffor carving painting and guilding one great fframe for the Souldier at length by Titian,'32 ffor painting and guilding one small frame for a womans picture thought to be of Leonardo,'33 ffor painting and guilding one fframe for a peece of Lott which was caryed to Greenwich.'34 To the Carver and Joyner for mending of fframes ffor a strayning frame for a greate peece of Van Dikes with other provision and labour about it. '35 And for making of three great peeces for the Chappell window at St James amounting in the whole to the som of Three hundred and Twelve pounds and Ten shillings. Wherefore we will and command you out of our Treasure remayning in the Receipt of our Excheqr forthwth to pay or cause to be paid vnto the said Richard Greenbury or to his assignes, the some of Three hundred pounds in full payment and satisfacton of the severall particulars above mentoned, The same to be taken to him and his Assignes without accompt imprest or other charge to be sett vpon him or them for the same or any part or parcell thereof. And these our lres shalbe your sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalf. Given vnder our Privy Seale at or Pallace of Westminster the ffifteenth day of ffebruary in the sixe yeare of our raigne

Wm Hawkins Dep?Ja: Mylles

i29 See also PRO, Privy Seal Books (Auditors), E 403/2566 for another version of this document.

530 Perhaps one of the versions of Paul van Somer's Anne of Denmark; see Millar, op. cit. (note 6o), vol. I, p. 8i, nr. 105, and K. Hearn (ed.), exhib. cat. Dynasties: painting in Tudor and ]acobean England, i530-i630, London (The Tate Gallery) I995, p. 206, cat. nr. 139.

13i The original is now in the National Gallery, London, see C. Gould, Na- tional Gallery catalogues: the sixteenth-century Italian schools, London 1975, pp. 57-6I.

132 Perhaps the Adlocutio of the Marchese dal Vasto, now in the Prado, Ma- drid. Described by van der Doort as hanging in the First Privy Lodging Room at Whitehall; see Millar, "Abraham," cit. (note 6), p. I 5.

533 Almost certainly a picture described by van der Doort and also said to be by Luini; see Millar, "Abraham," cit. (note 6), pp. 4I, 202. The picture is now at Hampton Court; see J. Shearman, The early Italian pictures in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Cambridge i983, pp. 150-5 1, cat. nr. 147 (as Luini).

134 Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes (fig. iI). See note i8, nr. 3, for van der Doort's reference to the picture at Greenwich.

I35 Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria with their two eldest children, Char- les, Prince of Wales, and Mary, Princess Royal; H.M. The Queen, Buckingham Palace. Described as the "greate peece of o' royall selfe, Consort and children" in the i632 warrant for payment; see Millar, op. cit. (note 6b), vol. I, p. 98, cat. nr. 150.



orazio gentileschi and some netherlandish artists in london: the patronage of the duke of...

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