Queen Henrietta Maria with Sir Jeffrey Hudson
Anthony van Dyck1633
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Washington, DC, United States
In 1632 Anthony van Dyck was invited to England to work at the court of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria. In Van Dyck, the royal couple and the English aristocracy found an artist whose gifts perfectly matched their artistic sensitivities as well as their political needs and aspirations. Van Dyck infused his portraits of the king and queen, including this depiction of Queen Henrietta Maria at age 24, with a tenderness and warmth of expression that fully convey the ideals of peace and harmony that underlay their philosophy of divine right to rule. Charles I not only commissioned Van Dyck to paint portraits for his own collection but also as gifts for loyal courtiers, ambassadors, and foreign rulers. This magnificent portrait of the Queen is the type of painting that the king would traditionally present to a court favorite for political purposes.
Henrietta Maria, daughter of King Henri IV of France and sister of King Louis XIII, exerted a strong influence on court fashion and protocol, and introduced continental fashions and Italianate gardens to England. Van Dyck portrayed her dressed for the hunt in a brilliant blue satin riding costume with a delicate lace collar instead of the stiff and formal Elizabethan ruff still widely in use. Whereas the queen's graceful pose and demure expression are at once regal and endearing, her stylish wide-brim feathered black hat and shimmering dress create a sense of vibrancy and vitality.
The queen's love of entertainment is symbolized by the presence of 14-year-old Sir Jeffrey Hudson and Pug the monkey, both royal favorites. Hudson's services had been offered to the queen when he was a young boy. He possessed a ready wit and became one of the queen's trusted advisors, even joining her in exile in France in the early years of the English Civil Wars (1642–1651).
This portrait superbly demonstrates Van Dyck's working methods and the reasons for his phenomenal success. Even though the portrait shows a tall woman with an oval face, pointed chin, and long nose, the queen was reportedly petite, with a round head and delicate features. Van Dyck greatly idealized her in the portrait—and this artistic flattery must have pleased her. To further accentuate her status Van Dyck revisited a compositional idea he first developed in Genoa during the early 1620s with his portrait of _Marchesa Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo_: he has portrayed the queen standing just beyond the portico of an imposing architectural structure. The fluted column emphasizes her already exaggerated height, and the crown and cloth of gold emphasize her royalty. In preparation for the portrait, Van Dyck must have done a careful study of Henrietta Maria's head, but as she probably posed only briefly for a sketch of the overall composition, he likely painted the actual portrait from a model or mannequin dressed in the queen's costume.
The orange tree behind Henrietta Maria, who was named after both her father, Henri IV of France, and her mother, Maria de' Medici, pays visual homage to her powerful Florentine ancestors. The Medici crest contains five gold balls, thought to represent oranges from the family's renowned citrus tree collection. A symbol of purity, chastity, and generosity, the orange tree was also associated with the Virgin Mary, Henrietta Maria's patron saint.
- Title: Queen Henrietta Maria with Sir Jeffrey Hudson
- Creator: Sir Anthony van Dyck
- Date Created: 1633
- Physical Dimensions: overall: 219.1 × 134.8 cm, 155 lb. (86 1/4 × 53 1/16 in., 70.308 kg) framed: 261.62 × 173.99 × 14.6 cm (103 × 68 1/2 × 5 3/4 in.)
- Provenance: Thomas Newport [c. 1655-1719, created 1st and last Baron Torrington in 1716], London, before 1716;[1] by inheritance to his third wife and widow, Anne, Lady Torrington [d. 1735, née Anne Pierrepont], Newport House, Twickenham, and London;[2] by inheritance to her sister-in-law, Mary, Countess of Bradford [1661- 1737, née Mary Wilbraham, widow of Richard Newport, 2nd earl of Bradford of the first creation], Weston Park, Shropshire;[3] by inheritance to her daughter, Diana, Countess of Mountrath [d. 1766, née Lady Diana Newport, wife of Algernon Coote, 6th earl of Mountrath], 20-21 Grosvenor Square, London;[4] by inheritance to Caroline, Baroness Milton [1718- 1775, née Lady Caroline Sackville, wife of Joseph Damer, later 1st earl of Dorchester], Milton Abbey, Dorset;[5] by inheritance to her son, George Damer, 2nd and last earl of Dorchester [1746-1808], Milton Abbey; by inheritance to his sister, Caroline Damer [1752-1829], Milton Abbey; by inheritance to her first cousin once-removed, John Dawson, 2nd earl of Portarlington [1781-1845], Milton Abbey; by inheritance to his nephew, Henry John Reuben Dawson-Damer, 3rd earl of Portarlington [1822-1889], Emo Park, Queens County, Ireland; by exchange 1881 to Thomas George Baring, 1st earl of Northbrook [1826-1904], Stratton Park, Hampshire; by inheritance to his son, Francis George Baring, 2nd earl of Northbrook [1850-1929], Stratton Park;[6] sold March 1927 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[7] sold May 1928 to William Randolph Hearst [1863-1951], San Simeon, California; on consignment 1938 with (M. Knoedler and Co., New York) by (Parish-Watson and Co., New York), for Hearst; returned 1939 to Hearst; (his sale, held at Gimbel's and Saks Fifth Avenue by Hammer Galleries, New York, 25 March 1941, no. 174-1);[8] consigned 1952 by Hearst's estate to (M. Knoedler and Co., New York); sold September 1952 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[9] gift 1952 to NGA. [1] The early provenance for the painting as published in the Gallery's 2005 systematic catalogue, _Flemish Paintings of the Seventeenth Century_, by Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., incorrectly traced the ownership from Richard Newport, 2nd earl of Bradford (1644-1723) through his heirs. The revised early provenance given here relies on the work of Sally Goodsir, who researched the history of the paintings collection at Weston Park, the former country home of the Earls of Bradford, and who kindly shared her research with the Gallery. The inventories cited below are in the collection of the Weston Park Foundation, near Shifnal, in Shropshire, England. (See Ms. Goodsir's 2009 e-mails of June 29, July 7, and July 29, and the e-mail from Gareth J.L. Williams, Curator and Head of Learning to the Weston Park Foundation, 21 July 2010, all in NGA curatorial files.) A pre-1716 inventory of paintings at Surrey Street, London, belonging to the Hon. Thomas Newport, lists "In New Room next Somerset Garden...K. Cha. 1sts Queen, by Vandyck." [2] An inventory of paintings belonging to Lady Torrington at her house in Twickenham and dated 9 November 1719, lists "In the Hall...Whole lengths...King Charles the first's Queen, by Vandyke." Thomas Newport had inherited Newport House in Twickenham in 1708 on the death of his father, Francis Newport, 1st earl of Bradford (1619-1708). After Lady Torrington's death, the house was sold out of the family. Another 1719 inventory, of paintings at her London house, lists "In the Drawing Room...K: Cha: 1sts Queen by Vandyke." [3] A 1735 inventory of the pictures sent by the Countess of Bradford from London to Weston Park, after Lady Torrington's death, lists "Case No. 7, painting number 79 King Charles 1sts Queen, by Vandyke." The painting then disappears from all subsequent inventories. [4] The Countess of Mountrath's will is in The National Archives, Kew, London (PROB 11/923). She did not leave any paintings to her son, Henry, 7th earl of Mountrath. [5] By terms of the Countess of Mountrath's will, the contents of her house in Grosvenor Square, London, were left first to Caroline, Lady Milton, and after Caroline's death were to be divided among Caroline's children. The contents of the house were not to be inherited by any husband of Caroline, and therefore not by Joseph Damer, who died after his wife, in 1798. Instead, Caroline's son, George Damer, became the next owner of the painting. [6] The provenance of the painting from its presence at Milton Abbey to Duveen Brothers is according to Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., Susan J. Barnes, et al., _Anthony van Dyck_, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1990: 262, no. 67, which in turn is based on _Northbrook Gallery. An Illustrated Descriptive and Historic Account of the Collection of the Earl of Northbrook, G.C.S.I._, Lord Ronald Gower, ed., London, 1885: 29, and J. Weale and J.P. Richter, _A Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures Belonging to the Earl of Northbrook_, London, 1889: 92. [7] See the letter of 10 March 1927 confirming receipt of payment for seven of the Northbrook paintings, including _Queen Henrietta Maria, Sir Jeffrey Hudson and a Monkey_, in the Duveen Brothers Records (box 269, folder 16, reel 124; accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; copy in NGA curatorial files, kindly supplied by Patricia Teter). [8] The sale was stopped by Hearst after some months and lots not sold were returned to his possession. The painting was presumably bought in, as the painting was consigned to Knoedler's by Hearst's estate in 1952. However, according to John Walker, _Self-Portrait with Donors: Confessions of an Art Collector_, Boston and Toronto, 1974: 222, it was sold for $124,998. [9] M. Knoedler & Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Commission book no. 3, p. 95, no. CA 1214; Commission book no. 5A, p. 54, no. CA 4038; and Sales book no. 16, p. 414 (copies in NGA curatorial files). The bill of sale from Knoedler to the Kress Foundation is dated 5 September 1952 and marked paid September 18 (copy in NGA curatorial files, see also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1751).
- Rights: CC0
- Medium: oil on canvas
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