Aristocratic collecting

Primarily focusing on King Charles I

Perceptions of his collecting

 The Flemish painter Sir Peter Paul Rubens judged him ‘the greatest amateur
of paintings among the princes of the world’ or, as written elsewhere, ‘the
greatest love of paintings among the princes in the world’.
 Rubens appointed, in 1632, ‘principall painter in ordinary to their majesties’

 Charles as England’s first ‘connoisseur King’

 Bought works by Raphael as well as other great Renaissance artists.
What he collected – early acquisitions

 Philip IV – Charles, Prince of Wales, travelled as “Jack and Tom Smith” with
Lord Buckingham to Spain (1623) in order to get Philip’s sisters hand in
marriage.
 Although the marriage didn’t occur, he left with two Venetian paintings and a
sculpture
 Titian – Pardo Venus
 Veronese’s Mars, Venus, and Cupid
 Giambologna’s Samson Slaying a Philistine (1560-62)
Agents and the patron

 Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel, has been described as fostering Charles’
enthusiasm for and taste in Italian art.
 Arundel and his wife = Mantua which will be discussed further in the next slide.

 Daniel Nys
 Queen Henrietta Maria
 Youngest daughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de Medici
 Notable patron of the arts in her own right
 Offered by the papal representative in London the possibility of a gift to her of paintings.
Replied that ‘she would not be able to keep them, as the King would steal them from
her’.
The Mantua collection 1628

 Someone else’s collection which he makes his own.

 Mantua collection was widely viewed as one of the most esteemed in Europe – featuring
thousands of masterpieces by Italian and Flemish artists.

 Mantua collection comes via Charles’ agent in Italy

 Cost 30,000 and took 2 years to pay what he owed.
 Charles never visits Mantua he is hence totally reliant, predominantly, on Daniel Nijs to
choose the works on his behalf.
 Triumps of Caesar –
 The Duke of Mantua was not willing to sell this initially. Eventually ended up doing so.
 Cost up to £18,000 in cash – Nijs unable to get Charles approval and wrote a letter to the
king assuring him Mantegna’s Triumphs were so “rare and unique” no other work of art
would again compare.
His own patronage
 Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641)
 Charles portrayed as ruler, warrior and knight in the long tradition of
antique and Renaissance equestrian monuments.
 Crowned royal arms and triumphal arch
 King’s refined features/Order of the Garter worn over his armour
 Pierre Antoine Bourdin, Seigneur de St Antoine – master in the the art of
horsemanship.
 Charles I in three positions
 Functionality of Van Dyck’s 3-portraits – created for Bernini to make a
bust of him.
 What became of the collection
 The collection numbering around 1500 pictures and 500 sculptures was sold under the
Commonwealth.
 Acquisiiton of art – France and Spain - expand on massively
 Charles II attempted to recover the collection
 Committee for the recovery of the king’s goods created in 1660 – made people living in Britain return
goods, though, majority of great works abroad.
 Plumber - Received a Titian (right) of Saint Margaret given by the Commonwealth to settle debt
 Andrew Graham-Dixon
 “If you want to get rid of the monarchy, you go one step further. You get rid of the way that they
projected their power, their specialness. You get rid of their art.”
 Cromwell – Triumphs of Caesar
 They represent a ‘general’ like himself rather than a monarch?
 Described by Vasari as ‘the best thing Mantegna ever painted’.
Conclusions

 Agents and diplomats clearly played an important role in enabling the

monarch to find art through their intimate knowledge and collecting.
 King himself would not necessarily have otherwise seen art – trusted to make sure
its genuine as well.

 King himself has seemingly already acquired an interest in art especially seen
in the Madrid trip
 Art collections
 Valuable to the king – art increasing status among other rulers.
 Post-king – selling of the collection