Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland (1602-1668) his First Wife Lady Anne Cecil (d.1637), and their Daughter, Lady Catherine Percy (1630-1638)
Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1633 - 1635
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1350 x 1800 mm
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 486239
Caption
The 10th Earl held high office under Charles I but opposed him during the Civil War. He founded the Petworth picture collection by patronising Van Dyck and buying Old Masters (some from the painter’s collection). He was one of Van Dyck's three main aristocratic patrons, and an early client of Lely's. His first wife, Lady Anne Cecil, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Salisbury, bore him five daughters, and died on 6th Dec.1637 3. He married secondly, in Oct. 1642, Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Suffolk, who was the mother of the 11th Earl. In the context of English portraiture, the composition of this picture was strikingly innovative.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland (1602-1668) his first wife Lady Anne Cecil (d.1637), and their Daughter, Lady Catherine Percy (1630-1638) by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641), circa 1633/35. Three three-quarter-length portraits. The Earl stands on the left-hand side, in black, shown three-quarters right against a background of sky and a landscape, with his left hand on a chair back, in the centre. In the centre, the Countess is seated shown full front, with her head slightly left and wearing a dull green-blue dress with a rose in her lap. Her right hand is on a chair arm, her left in her lap. At right stands a child, their eldest daughter, with her profile left and her hands crossed. She is wearing a silver-white dress and cap. In the centre background is a pilaster with acanthus moulding, and at right, a brown and gold curtain.
Full description
Oil painting on canvas, Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland (1602-1668) his first wife Lady Anne Cecil (d.1637), and their daughter, Lady Catherine Percy (1630-1638) by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641). Three three-quarter-length portraits. The Earl stands on the left-hand side, in black, shown three-quarters right against a background of sky and a landscape, with his left hand on a chair back, in the centre. In the centre, the Countess is seated shown full front, with her head slightly left and wearing a dull green-blue dress with a rose in her lap. Her right hand is on a chair arm, her left in her lap. At right stands their little girl, with her profile left and her hands crossed. She is wearing a silver-white dress and cap. In the centre background is a pilaster with acanthus moulding, and at right, a brown and gold curtain.
Provenance
Commissioned by the 10th Earl of Northumberland (1602-1668) who paid van Dyck £200 in 1635-1636 for this painting and 'divers others' and which was valued at £60 in 1671. Thence by descent, until the death in 1952 of the 3rd Lord Leconfield, who had given Petworth to the National Trust in 1947, and whose nephew and heir, John Wyndham, 6th Lord Leconfield and 1st Lord Egremont (1920-72) arranged for the acceptance of the major portion of the collections at Petworth in lieu of death duties (the first ever such arrangement) in 1956 by H.M.Treasury.
Makers and roles
Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641), artist
References
Remastered - Bosch to Bellotto: An Exhibition of Petworth's European Old Masters (exh cat) (Andrew Loukes) Petworth House, West Sussex, 9 January - 6 March 2016, cat. 31