Sir Henry Sidney KG (1529-1586), aged 44
attributed to George Gower (c.1540 - London 1596)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1573 (dated)
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
2020 x 1220 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 486274
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Sir Henry Sidney KG (1529-1586), aged 44, attributed to George Gower (c. 1538-96), inscribed top right against a green curtain, Sir Henry Sydney/ Ano dom 1573 20 die Iulii/ die nativitatis aetatis suae/ 44. A full-length portrait, standing, three-quarters left, with the proper right hand on the plinth of a red marble column, holding a glove, the left hand on hip above an elaborate silver hilt. He wears a black doublet and hose, with the Garter on his left knee, a black cape trimmed and lined with ermine, a black cap with silver band, the Garter chain and badge and black and gold shoes. The sitter's coat-of-arms at left. Sir Henry Sidney's household accounts list payment for 'one picture of my lord himselfe, in full payment, 62s. 6d [presumably this picture], and iij [three] other pictures of noblemen 33s' [i.e. eleven shillings each]. It is described as 'Sr Henry Sidney at Length' in a 1623 inventory of Penshurst Place, Kent, and was offered at the sale of Mary Sidney Sherard (Langford's Covent Garden, 10 May 1764, lot 3) before it was acquired for Petworth. The inscription states that the portrait was painted on 20 July 1573, Sir Henry Sidney's birthday. As Edward Town and Jessica David write, 'Although Gower is not named in Sidney's accounts, the picture conforms to what we know of his technique, sharing the stylisation of form and over-articulation of facial features that can be seen in his documented works.' (Edward Town and Jessica David, 'George Gower: portraitist, Mercer, Serjeant Painter', The Burlington Magazine, vol. 162, no. 1410, September 2020, pp. 730-47, p. 742). Associated works relating to this commission are in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London: NPG 2823, an oil on paper study, and NPG 1092, a bust-length oil on panel. The oil on paper, probably made from a life drawing, is likely to have functioned in Gower's studio as a 'visual guide for replication in paint' in this full-length and in other versions (Town and David 2020, p. 743).
Provenance
Listed in the household accounts of Sir Henry Sidney as 'one picture of my lord himselfe, in full payment, 62s. 6d'; listed as 'Sr Henry Sidney at Length' in a 1623 inventory of Penshurst Place, Kent; offered at the sale of Mary Sidney Sherard (Langford's Covent Garden, 10 May 1764, lot 3); acquired for Petworth, recorded in 1798; 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.
Credit line
Petworth House, The Egremont Collection (acquired in lieu of tax by HM Treasury in 1956 and subsequently transferred to the National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Top right: Sir Henry Sydney/ Ano dom 1573 20 die Iulii/ die nativitatis aetatis suae/ 44
Makers and roles
attributed to George Gower (c.1540 - London 1596), artist Arnold van Bronckhorst (c.1566 - 1586), artist
References
Hearn 1995: Karen Hearn (ed.), Dynasties Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England, 1530-1630 (exh. cat.), Tate Gallery, London, 12 October 1995 - 7 January 1996, 102 Town and David 2020: Edward Town and Jessica David, 'George Gower: portraitist, Mercer, Serjeant Painter', The Burlington Magazine, vol. 162, no. 1410, September 2020, pp. 730-47