Exhibition – French portrait drawings: Clouet to Courbet

Currently there is a temporary exhibition at the British Museum in Room 90, on the 4^th floor, of some beautiful drawings dating from the sixteenth century through to the nineteenth century, some have not been exhibited before.  The exhibition, French portrait drawings from Clouet to Courbet,  is on until the 29^th January 2017. 

As well as the drawings themselves there is also a case of medals and enamels, so that the earliest item in the exhibition is a medal by Jean Lepère, showing King Louis XII of France and his wife Anne of Brittany, 1499.

To the right is the first drawing that appears in the exhibition. It is  by Jean Clouet  (c.1485/90–1540) of an unknown man of c.1535 inscribed, the uncle of the Seigneur de Tavannes, but no longer identified as Jean de Tavanenes. You can just see sketched the gatherings around the top of his shirt and the ties to it. 

Here to the left is another unknown, this time a young girl c.1615 by Daniel Dumonstier (1574-1646). Lovely details are how the collar lays, the bows on her sleeves, and that lovely and unusual necklace. 

For each drawing in the exhibition if you go to the museum’s illustrated handlist, available here, you get the drawing with its description and a link to the Museum’s catalogue record for further information. Do click through, the museum's images are of far better quality than my photographs

Finally below, just to prove it is not all nobility, though most of it is, here is an old man in working dress, attributed to Pierre Biard II (1592–1661).

Book Review: Portrait Gallery of the Golden Age.

Portrait Gallery of the Golden Age. M Hell et al. Amsterdam: Museumshop Hermitage, 2014. ISBN 978 90 78653523. (English language version) €19.95

I suppose everyone has heard of the Nightwatch, but Rembrandt’s masterpiece is only one of a series of group portraits that were unique to the Netherlands. This book is a result of a collaborative exhibition of such portraits organised at the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam in 2014. 

These portraits were mainly done for the civic guards and charitable institutions of various Dutch cities. The earliest civic guard group in the book is the 1529 painting by Dirck Jacobsz of the seventeen man squad of harquebusiers’ militia, two side panels were added in 1559 portraying a further fourteen men. The book charts and rise, function and ultimate decline of the group portrait. The most recent painting in the book is the 1705 Regents of the Oudezijds Huiszittenhuis, though a few commission continued to be made as late as the nineteenth century. The book ends with an Epilogue containing photographs of some current boards.

There is a chapter on the city in the Dutch “Golden Age”, defined for this as 1588-1700. There are illustrations of paintings of Amsterdam and Haarlem, often containing a vast amount of detail, for example the 1656 painting of Dam Square with the new town hall under construction, there is also a painting of the destruction of the old town hall by fire in 1652. In the painting of the new town hall you can see details of all levels of society; to the bottom right are foreign merchants in long flowing robes, a man in a bright red cloak draws the eye to the centre of the painting, and behind him is a wheelbarrow pushing member of the working class. 

There is a chapter on the prosperous burgher families that controlled the Republic. The book discusses how marriage, money, and appointments to various boards of governors or civic guards created a route to the top for such men. This is followed by a chapter on law and order and the heyday of the civic guard piece, by this point in time often painted while the group appear to be in the middle of a banquet. The book moves on to discuss the importance of trade to the Republic, illustrated both with paintings of various markets, such as the vegetable market at Leiden, and with group paintings of guildsmen and surgeons.

The work of the burgher families in supporting a range of charities is shown through various group portraits of the regents and regentesses of orphanages and almshouses. When men and women are depicted together the women are seated separately and off to one side. Where the women appear on their own they have their account books in front of them. 

This is a fascinating little book (128 pages), sumptuously illustrated and well priced at €19.95. it can be mined for a wealth of costume details.

Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset: 1613 portrait and 1617 inventory

Richard Sackville by William Larkin, 1613

Richard Sackville, 3^rd Earl of Dorset (1589-1624) succeeded to the title on the death of his father, Robert Sackville, 2^nd Earl of Dorset (1560/61–1609).  He was married in 1609 to Anne Clifford (1590-1676), who is probably best known for her diary of the period 1616-19. The marriage was not particularly happy, Sackville was unfaithful and extravagant, he was once described as “a man of spirit and talent, but a licentious spendthrift.” (Jacob, 1974) Anne had a long running legal case against her uncle in respect of her father’s will, and in 1617 Sackville signed away her claim in return for monies which he used to pay off his gambling debts. (Spence, 2014)

 

The painting shown here was produced by William Larkin around 1613. We actually have an inventory of Sackville’s clothing, now in the Kent Archive Office and dated 2^nd June 1617, which lists what appears to be this suit. Every item worn in the portrait is described with the exceptions of his shirt, shoes and hat, although the shoe rose (MacTaggart, 1980)

s and hat band are described. They appear in the inventory as items 35 to 44

 

The spellings have been modernised.  Terms which appear in the list in bold have notes or definitions at the end; these notes are in alphabetical order.

35 Item one cloak of uncut velvet black laced with seven embroidered laces of gold and black silk and above the borders powdered with slips of satin embroidered and lined with shag of black silver and gold

36 Item one doublet of cloth of silver embroidered all over in slips of satin black and gold

37 Item one pair of black silk grosgrain hose cut upon white cloth of sliver and embroidered all over with slips of black satin and gold

38 Item one girdle and hangers of white cloth of silver embroidered with slips of black satin and gold.

39 Item one pair of gloves with tops of white cloth of silver embroidered with slips of black satin and gold laced with gold and silver lace.

41 Item one black pair of taffeta garters edge round with a small edging lace of gold and silver

42 Item one pair of roses of black ribbon laced with gold and silver lace.

43 Item one pair of white silk stockings embroidered with gold silver and black silk

44 Item a hatband embroidered with gold and silver upon black taffeta made up with gold and silver lace. 

Item 40 does not appear in the painting it is another pair of stockings, this time “black silk stockings embroidered with gold and silver.”

TERMS

Girdle and hangers: A girdle is a belt worn around the waist usually to carry light articles, when paired with the term hanger, a type of sword, it indicates a belt for a sword. 

Grosgrain: Although at later dates this is usually described as a corded fabric, the original use comes from the French meaning of a large or coarse grain. The OED describes it as “A coarse fabric of silk, of mohair and wool, or of these mixed with silk; often stiffened with gum.” (OED, 2014)

Hatband: The hat with its hatband is on the table behind Sackville. Hatbands also followed fashion causing the playwright Dekker (1609) to comment that a gallant would, “take off his hat to none unless his hatband be of a newer fashion than yours.” 

Detail of Layton jacket

Lace: when used in the sense of “a small edging lace of gold and silver” on the garters, shoe roses or gloves, then this probably is a bobbin lace made of gold or silver thread, as in this edging (right) to the Layton jacket in the V&A. However  when the term is used, as it is for the cloak “embroidered laces of gold and black silk” then it is more likely to be an ornamental braid appliqued onto the fabric, as in this late sixteenth century cloak in the Museum of London  a rear view of the same cloak can be seen here. 

Roses: The rise and fall of the shoe rose is cover in a blogpost here.  Peacham (1618) complained that shoe roses were so expensive they could be “from thirty shillings to three, four and five pounds the pair.”

Shag: Shag is any fabric with a long raised pile – think of shag carpets for a modern use of the term. It may look like fur when seen in a painting.  A surviving garment with shag is Francis Verney’s loose gown from c.1608, surprisingly I cannot find this in the National Trust’s image database, but it is available here. 

Slips: Slips are embroidered motifs which are worked and then cut out and appliqued onto a, usually more expensive, ground fabric. Sometimes the slips survive on their own without their backing fabric as in this example, sold by Bonhams, or this in the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Uncut examples, where the motif was worked, but it was never used, also survive.

Bibliography

Dekker, T., 1609. The gull's hornbook. s.l.:s.n.

Jacob, J., 1974. The Suffolk Collection: catalogue of paintings. London: Greater London Council.

MacTaggart, P. and A., 1980. The rich wearing apparel of Richard, 3rd Earl of Dorset. Costume, Volume 14.

OED, 2014. Oxford English Dictionary. grosgrain. [Online] Available at: http://www.oed.com/
[Accessed 16th April 2014].

Peacham, H., 1618. The truth of our times.. London: s.n.

Spence, R. T., 2014. Oxford dictionary of national biography. Anne Clifford. [Online]
Available at: www.oxforddnb.com [Accessed 15th April 2014].

Portrait of a “puritan” – Dutch Mennonite

Catrina Hooghsaet by Rembrandt. 1657

The portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet (1607–1685) by Rembrandt van Rijn was painted in 1657 when the subject was fifty. It is often considered one of the finest Dutch portraits of the seventeenth century, and at the moment it is on loan to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. (Brown, 2014) The portrait belongs to the Penrhyn Estates, and is usually on display at Penrhyn Castle, which is now owned by the National Trust.

Catrina Hooghsaet was a Mennonite, as the Anabaptist denominations that followed the preachings of Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland were called. Catrina belonged to the Waterland congregation in Amsterdam. Rembrandt’s relationship with the Waterland congregation has been discussed and summarised by several historians. (Edmonds, 2009). As well as Catrina, Rembrandt had already painted other members of the congregation, in 1632 Aeltje Uylenburgh (his wife Saskia’s aunt), and in 1641 Cornelius Anslo and his wife.

The copy of the portrait I have used here is from Wikimedia Commons and is not as good, or as detailed as that available on the National Museum of Wales website. So looking at the clothing in the portrait, what effect does her being Mennonite have? The Mennonites, like the Quakers in England about the same time, talked about plain dress, but plain did not mean poor quality. Catrina was a rich woman and can be seen dressed in the finest silk and linen, but with little embellishment. The cut is very fashionably for 1657, Interestingly at this point in time Catrina was separated from her second husband, Hendrick Jacobsz, who was a crimson dyer and clothier, and also a preacher. (Anon., 2014) (van Gelder, 2014)

So her clothing follows the cut and style of fashionable dress, but it is plain. Compare this portrait with that of an unknown woman of the same decade by Jan Victors, which is in the Milwalkee Art Museum. The dress is the same cut and style, but the collar and cuffs in the Victors portrait have wide lace trim, and the centre front of the skirt has gold braid, while the bodice also shows a gold colour of the garment underneath at the centre front. Catrina has the same black bands across her bodice, but they are difficult to discern as the undergarment is also black.

 Catrina’s only jewellery is a ring on the little finger of her left hand. While the unknown woman, as well as a ring on her left hand, has a gold necklace with matching bracelets on both wrists, a large broach holds her collar together at the front, and she has pearl earrings. Both women are wearing black silk with white linen, but then black and white had been both fashionable and common in the Netherlands for the previous sixty years. Fynes Morison stated when he travelled there in 1592-3, “Women ... cover their heads with a coyfe of fine holland linnen cloth, and they weare gowns commonly of some slight stuffe, and for the most part of black colour.”

Catrina’s coif, a close up can be seen here, appears to be more elaborate and has a greater degree of decoration than that of the unknown woman, though in both cases it can be seen that the headdresses are held in position by hooftijsertgen or oorijzer (ear irons).  An example of the sort of coif worn by the woman painted by Victors survives in the Platt Hall collection.

Feyntje van Steenkiste by Hals. 1632

Catrina holds in her right hand a handkerchief decorated with akertjes (tassels of knotted linen cords), this is an item that was permitted by the Mennonites. Catrina could have had lace on her handkerchiefs as the 1640 inventory of another Mennonite, Feyntje van Steenkiste (painted by Hals in 1632), shows that eight of her handkerchiefs had bobbin lace edgings and nine were of silk. (Dumortier, 1989)Tassels also decorate Catrina’s collar, these were quite common. Another Dutch lady from the 1650’s, painted by Abraham Liedts and now in Manchester City Galleries, has similar tassels on her collar.

So Mennonite dress plain, unadorned, but of the best quality you could afford.

Anon., 2014. Caterina Hoogsaet. [Online]
Available at: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catrina_Hoogsaet
[Accessed 8 March 2014].

Brown, C., 2014. For art's sake. In: The Oxford Times.. [Online]
Available at: http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/focus/10941144.For_Art_s_Sake___Ashmolean_s_Christopher_Brown/
[Accessed 8th March 2014].

Dumortier, B. M., 1989. Costume in Frans Hals. In: S. Slive, ed. Frans Hals: catalogue of the exhibition. London: Royal Academy of Arts, pp. 45-60.

Edmonds, K., 2009. Rembrandt and the Waterlander Mennonites. In: Study and Research Commission on Baptist Heritage and Identity Baptist World Alliance Gathering, Ede, Netherlands - July 29, 2009.. s.l.:s.n.

van Gelder, M., 2014. Catrina Hoogsaet. In: Online Dictionary of Netherlands.. [Online]
Available at: http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data / Hoogsaet
[Accessed 8 March 2014].

Elizabeth I & Her People – Exhibition and book review

When we went to see the Cheapside Hoard exhibition we spend the afternoon at the National Portrait Gallery for its Elizabeth I & Her People exhibition. The exhibition is excellent, and contains lots of costume and other materials as well as the portraits.

 I think we went the wrong way round the exhibition and were meant to start with Elizabeth and work our way round to the poor, but I looked to my right and that was it. There was the possibly / probably sailor’s shirt and breeches from the Museum of London. They are displayed in a glass case were you can view from three sides, and get close enough to see the diaper pattern of the  shirt material and the twill weave of the breeches, the website link has several close up photos. There has been much discussion, among re-enactors at least, about whether the outfit is as old as they say, some of which is focused on the shoulder reinforcement. I must admit this type of reinforcement is just what I have done on my son’s shirt where constant wear has thinned the material to tearing point. The outfit is displayed with the print of Vecellio’s sailor of 1598. Also in the working class section of the exhibition is the lovely child’s knitted mitten again borrowed from the Museum of London

Next we have the professional classes, with portraits of lawyers, clergymen and physicians, including a rather gruesome John Banister delivering and anatomy lecture. There is one woman, the calligrapher Esther Inglis., and following on from these, the rising merchant classes. In this section as well as the portraits you will find, some of a collection of 16^th century knitted caps, from the Museum of London., a beautiful blackwork woman’s waistcoat from the Fashion Museum Bath, and other clothing related items like pins and thimbles. One thing you can stand and try to read is a long inventory of goods from a London haberdasher in 1582. There are also gloves and drawing instruments and coins.

Still moving round in the wrong direction we have the gentry, nobility and court. Here the portraits include the English sea dogs, Raleigh, Frobisher and Drake, the nobility in the guise of  the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk by Hans Eworth, Elizabeth’s favourite the Earl of Leicester and her Lord Treasurer, William Cecil, among others. This grouping is accompanied by more upmarket goods, pomanders, sweet bags, rings, rapiers, and a very nice wheel-lock pistol.

Then we have Elizabeth herself in several portraits including the ermine portrait, and two versions of her with three goddesses. We were back at the beginning, having gone the wrong way around the entire thing. Here we found maps of Britain and London and Hoefnagel’s Fete at Bermondsey.

The book is well worth £25 (it’s a hardback), and as well as providing a catalogue of the exhibition there are four essays at the beginning of the work including, for those interested in clothes, Susan North on What Elizabethan’s wore: evidence from wills and inventories of the “middling sort”

Cooper, Tarnya. Elizabeth & her people. National Portrait Gallery. ISBN 978 1 85514 465 1

Exhibition review – The Lost Prince, Henry 1594-1612

The book and other related items are available from the
National Portrait Gallery Shop

I recently visited the National Portrait Gallery Exhibition, The Lost Prince: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart (it finishes on the 13^th January 2013). For those who cannot get to see the exhibition there is an excellent accompanying book and catalogue by the curator Catherine MacLeod.

For those who are uncertain who this was, Henry Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James VI of Scotland and I of England, and his wife Anne of Denmark. As the exhibition says when James succeeded Elizabeth in 1603 it was the first time in two generations that England had had a “normal” family consisting of the King and Queen and their three children, Henry, Elizabeth and Charles, though the last was considered so sickly he was left behind in Scotland. The exhibition is an assessment of the life of Henry, who died at the age of 18 some 400 years ago this month.

The exhibition is divided into six sections with a wealth of paintings, some of which have not been seen in public before. I have included links to copies of a few of the paintings that are in the exhibition.

The first section deals with the family and includes paintings by John de Critz and Robert Peake who (from 1607 until Peake’s death in 1619) were jointly Serjeant-Painter to James. Here are paintings of all the members of the family, the King and Queen, by de Critz and miniatures of them by Hilliard and Oliver, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Charles by Peake, and several of Henry himself including one of him in his garter robes by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. The most poignant item however is a letter from the nine year old Henry to his mother, assuring her he is in good health.

The second section is about the prince in his own household, which was established at the Palace of Nonsuch. There are paintings of the members of the circle who surrounded the Prince at Nonsuch, and a well known portrait of Henry with a young Earl of Essex (who later commanded the Parlimentary army against his brother King Charles in the Civil War. There has been much argument, based on the image I have linked to, as to whether the collars have a blue starch. The collars on the painting, as seen in the gallery, are white with a very slight caste of green from the doublets underneath. It is an object lesson in not taking the colours that appear in online sources as true.

 The third section is on festivals, masques and tournaments and includes several sketches for masque costume, as well as a very strange portrait of Henry leading Old Father Time by the forelock, two sets of Henry’s armour and several miniatures of Henry in armour.

The fourth section is on Henry’s collecting, and made me wonder if Henry’s collection of paintings and renaissance bronzes influenced his brother’s collecting habit, which has been explored in Jerry Brotton’s book The sale of the late king’s goods.

Henry did not leave the UK, but the fifth section explores his links to the wider world, and his interest in ships. The painting by Adam Willaerts of the Embarkation of the Elector Palatine 1613 is interesting for its depiction of ordinary people standing on the foreshore in the bottom right hand corner. The section also has portraits of his extended family, his uncle Christian IV of Denmark, his brother in law to be Frederick Elector Palatine, his godfather Henri IV of France, and Maurice of Nassau.

The final section deals with Henry’s death on the 6^th November 1612, from an illness now recognised to have been typhus. It includes post mortem notes, and a well known portrait of Queen Anne in mourning, but most poignant are the scant remains of the wooden effigy of Henry that was created and dressed in his robes as Prince of Wales and placed on his hearse.

One is inclined to ask what if Henry hadn’t died? What if Charles hadn’t succeeded James I as Charles I? Would we still have had a Civil War? it is a very good exhibition, and if you can’t get to it the book is excellent.