William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke KG, PC (1580-1630)
Daniel Mytens the elder (Delft c.1590 – The Hague 1648)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1620 - 1630
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2159 x 1346 mm (85 x 53 in)
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1129118
Caption
This portrait is one of a series of four hanging at Hardwick. The 6th Duke of Devonshire called them ‘not very prepossessing’ and could not understand why the 1st Duke selected this ‘coterie.’ The 3rd Earl is here shown holding the staff of Lord Chamberlain, wearing the Garter star and the lesser George. He and his brother, the 4th Earl, were described by Shakespeare as the ‘incomparable pair of bretheren.’ It was to him that the first folio was dedicated in 1623. This portrait, or that at the Bodleian Library, must have been used by Van Dyck as the model for his posthumous portrait of the 3rd Earl at Wilton.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke KG, PC (1580-1630) by Daniel Mytens the elder (Delft c.1590 – The Hague 1648). A full-length portrait, turned to the right, dressed in black with white lace collar and cuffs, holding staff of office as Lord Chamberlain, his hat on a table, right; wearing blue collar of Garter.
Provenance
Seen by Walpole at Chatsworth in 1760; and thence by descent until, following the death of Edward William Spencer Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire (1895 - 1950), Hardwick Hall and its contents were accepted by HM Treasury in part payment of death duties and transferred to the National Trust, in 1959
Marks and inscriptions
at bottom in black Earl of Pembroke
Makers and roles
Daniel Mytens the elder (Delft c.1590 – The Hague 1648), artist