Sir Peter Rycaut (d.c.1657)
manner of Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1600 - 1675
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2089 x 1257 mm (82 x 49 ½ in)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
NT 108903
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Sir Peter Rycaut (d.c.1657), in the manner of Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641). A full-length portrait, turned slightly to the right, gazing at the spectator, in black dress with white lace collar and cuffs, standing on a terrace with stone pillar and plinth to the right, and distant horizon with sky on the left. Sir Peter Rycaut (d.c.1657) was the son of a grandee of Brabant, and a financier who lent money to the sovereigns of England and Spain, but was ruined by his support of the Royalist cause. His son was the author and traveller, Paul Rycaut (1628-1700). This picture was bought by William Kent in Genoa and sold to Sir Nathaniel Curzon in 1758. The Genoese were also important bankers of the king of Spain, which may account for the portrait’s presence in Genoa.
Provenance
Bought in Genoa by William Kent (fl. 1742-1761) in 1758 and sold to Sir Nathaniel Curzon;recorded in Blue damask bedchamber by Horace Walpole in 1768; and thence by descent until bought with part of the contents of Kedleston with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund in 1987 when the house and park were given to the National Trust by Francis Curzon, 3rd Viscount Scarsdale (1924-2000)
Credit line
Kedleston Hall, The Scarsdale Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1987)
Marks and inscriptions
Recto: What may have been an inscription at the base of the plinth has been painted out by the wielder of the green-pigment-laden brush, whose hand is evident elsewhere in the painting ... Verso: Label: Pasted to back of lining canvas inscribed in brown ink in 18th century hand: Sr Peter Rycaut: by Van Dyck
Makers and roles
manner of Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641), artist
References
Walpole 1927-28 Paget Toynbee (ed.), 'Horace Walpole's Journals of Visits to Country Seats, etc.', 1760-62, Walpole Society XVI, 1927 -28 pp. 9-80, Vol.XVI, 1927. p.65 - xxxiii …Sept 2nd 1768