An Unknown Gentleman, aged 35, formerly called William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke KG, PC (1580-1630), possibly a member of the Meller family
Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (Bruges 1561/2 - London 1636)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1628 (inscribed)
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
546 x 495 mm (21 1/2 x 19 1/2 in)
Order this imageCollection
Erddig, Wrexham
NT 1151364
Summary
Oil painting on panel, An Unknown Gentleman, aged 35, formerly called William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke KG, PC (1580-1630), possibly a member of the Meller family by Marcus Geeraerts the younger (Bruges 1561 – London 1635), inscribed Aetatis Suae 35./ Anno Do. 1628 and top right: (underneath a depiction of vetch) Humilior Melior. A half-length portrait, slightly to right, in brown doublet, short silver sword belt, lace collar and cuffs.
Provenance
Given by Philip Yorke III (1905 – 1978) along with the estate, house and contents to the National Trust in 1973
Credit line
Erddig, The Yorke Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Recto: 'Humilior Melior' (top right, underneath a depiction of vetch) Recto: Inscribed, top left: Aetatis Suae 35./Anno Do. 1628 Recto: Inscribed on paper stuck onto frame: WILLIAM, EARL OF PEMBROKE. K.G. LORD CHAMBERLAIN. Obit 1640
Makers and roles
Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (Bruges 1561/2 - London 1636), artist
References
Steegman 1957 John Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, Vol.I: North Wales, Cardiff, 1957, p.96 "PORTRAITS AT ERDDIG, WREXHAM ADDITIONAL PORTRAITS 27. Called WILLIAM HERBERT, EARL OF PEMBROKE. Panel inscribed "Aet 35. Anno 1628". HL, to r. The sitter must have been born in 1592-3, which makes it impossible for him to have been an Earl of Pembroke." Strong 1969 Roy Strong, The English Icon, Elizabethan and Jacobean Portraiture, London, 1969, p.287 no.282: "Called William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke 1628 Inscribed top left Aet 35 / Anno 1628."