Portrait of Charles

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A Portrait of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, by "The Master of Queen Mary Tudor"Author(s): Paul GanzSource: The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 70, No. 410 (May, 1937), pp. 204-207+210-211Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/866918 .

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T H E CORONATIONTwoyears ago, at the time of the SilverJubilee,we celebratedhe occasionbypublishinga seriesofarticleswhichgave someaccount f the worksof artcontainedn theRoyalPalacesof GreatBritain. Nowthat thegreathistoric eremonyf the Coronations about o takeplace, wefeel that it isfitting topublishseveralspecialarticlesbearing, n varyingdegrees,on the ceremony,ts settingand associations.The objectsrom Buckinghamalace,WindsorCastle,the Towerof London ndHamptonCourtPalace

arereproducedith thegracious ermission f His Majesty heKing.A PORTRAIT O F CHARLES BRANDON, D U K EO F SUFFOLK, B Y " T H E MASTER O F QUEENM A R Y TUDOR" BY PAUL GANZ

HIS picture of a " grandseigneur,"executed in somewhat generous di-mensions and glowing colours, has forgenerations been held to be a portraitof the Duke of Buckingham,' paintedby Holbein. Furtherresearcheshave, however, ledto the conviction that it is a picture of the firstquarter of the sixteenth century, and representsCharlesBrandon, the favouriteof Henry VIII who,in 1513, was raised to the rank of a Knight of theGarter and on whom, in 1514, the King conferredthe title of Duke of Suffolk [PLATE I]. The style ofthe portrait in its reserved conception and broaddecorative execution bears a strong resemblance tothe works of Andrea Solario and would seem toplace the supposed author among a group of artistswho were under the influenceof Italian art and wholived at the French court in the reign of Louis XII.Especially characteristic of the hitherto unknownpainter is the unusual position of the hands, intro-duced in order to give vitality to the picture, whichthus appear to perform a special task in the com-position. This peculiarity, with like intention andwith the choice of similar motifs, may be observedin an artist who was identified only a few yearsago : Michiel Zittoz, painter at the court of QueenIsabella, the Catholic. A comparisonof the portraitof King ChristianI of Denmark,2 ated 1515, withthat of Suffolk leads us to the belief that the authorof the last-named portrait had copied exactly theattitude of the person represented as well as theposition of the hands. In both pictures the righthand is holding the hilt of the dagger, whilst the left

is restingstifflyon the parapet. Although separatedby only a few years, the artisticconception of thesetwo portraits is dissimilar. The portrait of theDukeof Sufolk impressesus by its strong decorativeeffect, emphasizingnot the psychologicalexpressive-ness of the face, but the beauty of the generalappearance.The picture, which is painted on oak, representsthe Duke in the prime of life, at about thirty yearsof age. Long chestnut-colouredhair and a beardof warm brown frame the ruddy face; the full,sensuouslips, and the cool, self-contained,passionateyet restrained expression impart to the strongpersonality a peculiar significance and attractive-ness. Brandon resembledhis royal masterphysicallyas well as intellectually: he was a giant instature, fearless and gallant, relentless in thepursuit of his object. Over his dress-coat of goldbrocade with white silk ribbons, he wears a blackcloak with a broadcollarof brown fur and the chainof the Order of the Garter from which the figureof St. George,in coloured enamel andset withjewels,is suspended. The hat turnedup with black ribbonsafter the French fashion is adorned with an ovalmedallion in gold, on which may be seen a femalefigure drawing up a cord fastened to the ground;at either side are scrolls with the motto : "Je tiensen sa cord." By the strongemphasisof the outlines,the dark silhouette against a light-blue backgroundintensifies the impression made by the imposingpersonality; it projects a shadow on the wall,thus giving greater plasticity.As a help in identifying3 the portrait may bementioned the double-portrait, engraved by G.Vertue in 1748, of the Duke and his third wife,Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, to-day in thepossessionof the Duke of Bedford at WoburnAbbey,the original of which was produced after I515;

1 Exhibited at the First Special Exhibition of National Portraitsup to the reign of King James the Second at the South KensingtonMuseum in i866 (No. 71) as EdwardStafford, rdDuke of Buckingham(23 by 18 in.), by Hans Holbein; and at the Tudor Exhibition inI89o (No. 136) as Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham,K.G.(Panel, 22j by i8 in.), by Hans Holbein. The portrait belongedto the Marquess of Hastings and subsequently to Lord Donington,both of Donington Park; latterly it was in the possession of LadyLoudoun.2 GUSTAVGLOCK: " The Henry VII in the National PortraitGallery," THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE, Vol. LXIII [Sept. 1933].P1. 104.

* Exhib. 1857. Art Treasures, Manchester, No. 14. Two otherportraits of the couple were in the First Special Exhibition ofNational Portraits of 1866 : No. 76 by Hans Holbein and No. 8oby Jan de Mabuse.N 205THE BURLINGTONMAGAZINE, No. 410, Vol. lxx, May 1937


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THE CORONATION PROCESSION OF WILLIAM IV PASSING CHARI`NG CROSS. 8TH SEPTEMBER, 1831. BY JOHN CONSWATER-COLOUR DRAWING, 21.2 BY 30.4 CM. (MR. P. M. TURNER)


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CHARLES BRANDON, DUKE OF SUFFOLK, HERE ASCRIBED TO " THE MASTER OF QUEEN MARY TUDOR ". PANEL, 57.5 BY46.5 CM.MR. NORBERT FISCHMANN, LONDON)

PLATE I. A PORTRAIT OF CHARLES BRANDON, DUKE OF SUFFOLK, BY "THE MASTER OF QUEENMARY TUDOR"


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A-FRANCIS I OF FRANCE, WHEN COMTE D'ANGOULEME.PANEL, 47.5 BY 35.5 CM.(PRIVATE COLLECTION, PARIS)

B-PRINCESS MARY TUDOR. PANEL, 26 BY21 CM.(MUSEEDES ARTS DECORATIFS, PARIS)

C--HENR VIII. PANEL, 71 BY 55.8 CM. (HAMPTON COURTPALACE)D-QUEEN MART TUDOR. PANEL, 41 BY 32 CM. NATIONALGALLERY)

(ALL HERE ASCRIBED TO " THE MASTER OF QUEEN MARY TUDOR ")PLATE II. A PORTRAIT OF CHARLES BRANDON, DUKE OF SUFFOLK, BY " THE MASTER OF QUEENMARY TUDOR "


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A Portraitof Charles randon,Dukeof Suffolk,by" The Masterof QueenMaryTudor"Francis I. They had a formal audience at Noyonon February2nd, after which Francishad a privateinterview with the Duke and to his consternationsaid to him : " My Lord of Suffolk,there is a bruitin this my realm that you are come to marry withthe Queen, your master's sister." Suffolkattemptedin vain to deny the charge,for Francishad extractedthe confession from Mary herself-by what dis-honourable overtures we need not inquire-andFrancis, to put him at his ease, promised to writeto Henry in his favour. The truth was that Henryhimselfsecretlyfavouredthe projectand only wishedfor some such letter from Francis to make it moreacceptable to the old nobility who regarded Suffolkas an upstart. Wolsey was doing his best to smoothaway all obstacles,but the precipitancyof the loversnearly ruined everything. Mary was by no meanssure that, although Henry favoured her wishes tosome extent, he might not be induced by his councilto break faith with her and sacrifice her again topolitical considerations. Suffolk'sdiscretion was notable to restrain his own ardour and hers as well,and they were secretly married in Paris.Henry VIII was extremely displeased and manyof his council would have put Suffolk to death.Mary, however, left Pariswith Suffolkon April I6thand they were married openly at Greenwich onMay 13th, in the presenceof the King and his court,but with no public rejoicings, as the match wasgenerally unpopular.For some time Mary-the French Queen, as shewas continually called-and her husband retiredinto the country, as personsunder a cloud, but aftera while they were seen more frequentlyat court andSuffolkrose into favour once more. In 1522, whenCharles V visited England, Suffolk received boththe King and the Emperorat hishouse in Southwark,where his wife and he had a staff of forty-four men

and seven gentlewomen. Suffolkhad three childrenby the French Queen who died in 1533, little morethan three weeks after the coronation of AnneBoleyn. Following the fashion of the time, Suffolkimmediately repaired his loss by marrying earlyin September Katharine, daughter of the widowedLady Willoughby,a young woman whom we knowfrom Holbein's sketch'2at Windsor Castle.The painter of Suffolk's early portrait must, inhis time, have been well known at the English andthe Frenchcourts. He twice portrayed MaryTudor,holding a cup like Mary Magdalen : the firstshowsher as a young girl putting a ring on her finger[PLATE II, B]; the second as a married womanwearing a necklace of precious stones and pearls,bound with knitted cords similarto the laces of thechain of the Garter [PLATE II, D]. By the samehand is a portraitof Francis [PLATE I, A] when hestill was the comte d'Angouleme; he, too, is puttinga ring on his finger, an action which may be anallusion to his marriage in I5I4 with Claude thedaughter of Louis XII. The portrait of HenryVIIIat Hampton Court [PLATE II, c] is also by thesame master; the conception and execution aresimilar as well as the colours. There are manyother portraits by this unknown artist, wronglyattributed to-day to Joos van Cleve, Mabuse andJeannet Clouet ; like Master Michiel,13he workedon both sides of the Channel, even in Holbein's life-time. It is not yet possible to describethe activitiesof this painter and the development of his art,but it is somethingto have established his existence.In honour of the royal romance of the Duke ofSuffolk, we propose to call him here " The Masterof Queen Mary Tudor."

12 PAULGANz : KritischerKatalogderHandzeichnungenansHolbeinsd.J., No. 82.13 LUDWIGBALDASS. " The Portraiture of Master Michiel,"THE BURLINGTONMAGAZINE. Vol. LXVII [Aug. 19351, p. 77.

V A N DYCK'S EQUESTRIANORTRAITS O FCHARLES I. BY GUSTAVGLU*CK

N Flemish art of the seventeenthcenturythe representation of the horse was notconfined to the professional animal-painter but it was portrayed almostexclusively and with marked preferenceby the painter of historical subjects-a practiceanticipated by Leonardo and Titian at the time ofthe Italian Renaissance. Rubens, the head of thisFlemish school, early devoted himself to the studyof this noble animal, as is proved by the great eques-trian portraitof the DukeofLerma, xecuted in I603,in the possessionof the CountessGavia (ndeLerma)at Madrid, and the so-called RidingSchool n theKaiser-FriedrichMuseum at Berlin. It is from thisRidingSchool,which shows a horse and rider in three

different positions, that nearly all the equestrianportraitsof the baroque period derive.Van Dyck-as faithful pupil and follower of hisgreat master-also occupied himselfwith this themefrom his very earliestperiodwith great ability. Howsuccessfulhe was may be seen in the cleverstudy of amounted soldier in the Libraryof Christ Church atOxford,whichhe usedin his MartyrdomfSt. Sebastiannow in the Louvre, and St. Martin'smighty whitehorse in the picturesin the churchat Saventhemandat Windsor Castle. On the other hand, I do notbelieve that Van Dyck, at this early period, paintedthe equestrian portrait of CharlesV in the UffiziGalleryat Florence, as is assumedby many authors;rather do I see in it a copy-perhaps Spanish-of a21 I

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