Studio of John de Critz the Elder
Portrait of King James VI & I (1566-1625), c. 1604
Oil on panel
22 ½ x 17 ¼ ins. (57.2 x 43.7 cm).
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com This portrait of King James VI & I derives from the portrait-type produced by John de Critz at the outset...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
This portrait of King James VI & I derives from the portrait-type produced by John de Critz at the outset of James I’s reign. It was the first portrait of James as King of England, and as such was in great demand, given the desire to show loyalty to the new Stuart regime.
James was the son of Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) and succeeded to the throne upon the death of Elizabeth I (1533-1603) in 1603. Witty, well-read and a staunch believer in the Divine Right of Kingship, the Scottish-born James I was not readily accepted by England on his accession to the throne in 1603. The old conflicts between Scotland and England, religious tensions and James’s inability to respect Parliament, served only to exacerbate the situation during his somewhat unsuccessful reign. However, he was the first Scottish King to act in his own right as a decisive player on the European political stage, and the last English monarch to enjoy at his accession the supreme, unquestioned authority of the Tudors and their medieval predecessors.
His entourage of Scottish court favourites and his bribes and lavish rewards, most infamous being the creation of his closest advisor George Villiers (1592-1628) as Duke of Buckingham, were factors that kept the King and Parliament permanently at odds and allowed his rule to appear capricious and corrupt, whilst its exalted character grew more and more offensive to an age that had begun, almost instinctively, the progression towards parliamentary government. Religious dissension reached a climax in 1605 with the Gunpowder plot, the Papist attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament provoking a renewed anti-Catholic fervour in England. James, however, also disliked the excessive demands of the Puritans, which finally resulted in the first exodus of English emigrants to North America. Nonetheless, at his death in 1625 he bequeathed a prosperous country and is perhaps best remembered for his Authorised Version of the English Bible, published in 1611.
Unlike his predecessor Elizabeth who understood the importance of royal portraiture, James was notoriously reluctant to sit for painters and as a result his iconography from the early part of reign relies heavily on a likeness captured by John de Critz soon after he acceded to the throne in 1603. This ‘head-type’ or ‘pattern’ was then used by de Critz and his studio to paint further portraits of James of varying design and scale. Before applying the paint, the artist would first trace or draw in freehand the basic design of the head onto a prepared panel using an original ‘pattern’ as a guide. In the present work this extensive underdrawing has become visible over time and we can observe the highly confident way the artist has laid out the facial features and contours. In less accomplished copies this underdrawing appears more laboured and overly considered. The fluent, almost instinctive drawing of the head in our work indicates the close involvement of de Critz, and if it was not done by his hand, it must certainly have been carried out under his close supervision.
In this portrait James is shown wearing the blue ribbon of a Knight of the Garter, the pre-eminent English order of chivalry, from which would have hung the Garter George jewel. He wears a fine lace collar – typical of the type observed in portraits of James painted soon after his coronation - and an embroidered silk doublet with silver buttons. Around his shoulders he is wearing a costly black gown which matches his tilted hat, adorned with a large diamond and plume of feathers. Another portrait of James wearing the same costume and measuring the same dimensions as our work was sold at auction in 1962 and was possibly by the same hand that painted this work. [1]
John de Critz was brought over to England, probably from Amstersdam, with his parents, in around 1550. [2] He studied under the poet and artist Lucas de Heere (b.c. 1534-1584) and after de Heere left London he worked as a messenger for Elizabeth I’s ‘spymaster’ Sir Francis Walsingham (c. 1532-1590). This line of employment required frequent visits to the Continent and de Critz delivered several letters to the French court in the 1580s. In around 1591 de Critz married Helen Woodcock, a granddaughter of a Sheriff and Alderman of London and around this time set up a workshop in the parish of St Anne and St Agnes. Drawing on his established contacts at court, de Critz wasted little time in building a reputation as an artist and in 1598 he was mentioned alongside Issac Oliver and Nicholas Hilliard as people ‘very famous for their painting.’ [3] In 1603 de Critz was granted the reversion of the office of Serjeant-Painter and operated as a deputy to Leonard Fryer I (before 1555-1605), assuming the full-title on the latter’s death in 1605. Payment records indicate that by 1603-4 de Critz was painting and selling portraits of James and his family and in 1606 was paid £53 7s. 8d for full-length portraits of James and Anne. [4] Further commissions followed including several portraits of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563-1612), commissioned by himself and given to ambassadors. [5]
As well as panel portraits, de Critz’s role as Serjeant-Painter also required him to undertake additional tasks including the decoration of the King’s ships and he accepted more of this work when his eyesight began to fail in around 1609. After this date de Critz would have been increasingly reliant on his son John and assistant James Manucci (b.c.1579-1633) to help fulfil new portrait commissions and manage the demand for copies of his royal portraits. In late February or early March 1642 [6] de Critz died and was buried in the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
[1] Christie’s, London, 13 April 1962, lot 4.
[2] For a more complete overview of the life of John de Critz see Town, E. ‘A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters 1547-1625’, in The Walpole Society, 2014, p. 66.
[3] Meres, F. (1598), Palladis Tamia or Wits Treasury, London, in Town, E. ‘A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters 1547-1625’, in The Walpole Society, 2014, p. 66.
[4] Town, E. ‘A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters 1547-1625’, The Walpole Society, 2014, p. 67.
[5] Ibid.
This portrait of King James VI & I derives from the portrait-type produced by John de Critz at the outset of James I’s reign. It was the first portrait of James as King of England, and as such was in great demand, given the desire to show loyalty to the new Stuart regime.
James was the son of Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) and succeeded to the throne upon the death of Elizabeth I (1533-1603) in 1603. Witty, well-read and a staunch believer in the Divine Right of Kingship, the Scottish-born James I was not readily accepted by England on his accession to the throne in 1603. The old conflicts between Scotland and England, religious tensions and James’s inability to respect Parliament, served only to exacerbate the situation during his somewhat unsuccessful reign. However, he was the first Scottish King to act in his own right as a decisive player on the European political stage, and the last English monarch to enjoy at his accession the supreme, unquestioned authority of the Tudors and their medieval predecessors.
His entourage of Scottish court favourites and his bribes and lavish rewards, most infamous being the creation of his closest advisor George Villiers (1592-1628) as Duke of Buckingham, were factors that kept the King and Parliament permanently at odds and allowed his rule to appear capricious and corrupt, whilst its exalted character grew more and more offensive to an age that had begun, almost instinctively, the progression towards parliamentary government. Religious dissension reached a climax in 1605 with the Gunpowder plot, the Papist attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament provoking a renewed anti-Catholic fervour in England. James, however, also disliked the excessive demands of the Puritans, which finally resulted in the first exodus of English emigrants to North America. Nonetheless, at his death in 1625 he bequeathed a prosperous country and is perhaps best remembered for his Authorised Version of the English Bible, published in 1611.
Unlike his predecessor Elizabeth who understood the importance of royal portraiture, James was notoriously reluctant to sit for painters and as a result his iconography from the early part of reign relies heavily on a likeness captured by John de Critz soon after he acceded to the throne in 1603. This ‘head-type’ or ‘pattern’ was then used by de Critz and his studio to paint further portraits of James of varying design and scale. Before applying the paint, the artist would first trace or draw in freehand the basic design of the head onto a prepared panel using an original ‘pattern’ as a guide. In the present work this extensive underdrawing has become visible over time and we can observe the highly confident way the artist has laid out the facial features and contours. In less accomplished copies this underdrawing appears more laboured and overly considered. The fluent, almost instinctive drawing of the head in our work indicates the close involvement of de Critz, and if it was not done by his hand, it must certainly have been carried out under his close supervision.
In this portrait James is shown wearing the blue ribbon of a Knight of the Garter, the pre-eminent English order of chivalry, from which would have hung the Garter George jewel. He wears a fine lace collar – typical of the type observed in portraits of James painted soon after his coronation - and an embroidered silk doublet with silver buttons. Around his shoulders he is wearing a costly black gown which matches his tilted hat, adorned with a large diamond and plume of feathers. Another portrait of James wearing the same costume and measuring the same dimensions as our work was sold at auction in 1962 and was possibly by the same hand that painted this work. [1]
John de Critz was brought over to England, probably from Amstersdam, with his parents, in around 1550. [2] He studied under the poet and artist Lucas de Heere (b.c. 1534-1584) and after de Heere left London he worked as a messenger for Elizabeth I’s ‘spymaster’ Sir Francis Walsingham (c. 1532-1590). This line of employment required frequent visits to the Continent and de Critz delivered several letters to the French court in the 1580s. In around 1591 de Critz married Helen Woodcock, a granddaughter of a Sheriff and Alderman of London and around this time set up a workshop in the parish of St Anne and St Agnes. Drawing on his established contacts at court, de Critz wasted little time in building a reputation as an artist and in 1598 he was mentioned alongside Issac Oliver and Nicholas Hilliard as people ‘very famous for their painting.’ [3] In 1603 de Critz was granted the reversion of the office of Serjeant-Painter and operated as a deputy to Leonard Fryer I (before 1555-1605), assuming the full-title on the latter’s death in 1605. Payment records indicate that by 1603-4 de Critz was painting and selling portraits of James and his family and in 1606 was paid £53 7s. 8d for full-length portraits of James and Anne. [4] Further commissions followed including several portraits of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563-1612), commissioned by himself and given to ambassadors. [5]
As well as panel portraits, de Critz’s role as Serjeant-Painter also required him to undertake additional tasks including the decoration of the King’s ships and he accepted more of this work when his eyesight began to fail in around 1609. After this date de Critz would have been increasingly reliant on his son John and assistant James Manucci (b.c.1579-1633) to help fulfil new portrait commissions and manage the demand for copies of his royal portraits. In late February or early March 1642 [6] de Critz died and was buried in the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
[1] Christie’s, London, 13 April 1962, lot 4.
[2] For a more complete overview of the life of John de Critz see Town, E. ‘A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters 1547-1625’, in The Walpole Society, 2014, p. 66.
[3] Meres, F. (1598), Palladis Tamia or Wits Treasury, London, in Town, E. ‘A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters 1547-1625’, in The Walpole Society, 2014, p. 66.
[4] Town, E. ‘A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters 1547-1625’, The Walpole Society, 2014, p. 67.
[5] Ibid.
[6] The National Archives [TNA PROB 11/188/324] in Town, E. ‘A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters 1547-1625’, The Walpole Society, 2014, p. 68.Provenance
Private collection, UK.2
of
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