f California Regional Facility ^ '--Y A O H P^ e- -. OJ C OJ 5 C O CJ > OJ to _c OJ J2 o CO CO u Ch W c u ^^ i-t ■^ 'J: • ^ y. o P cu rt o by: t-^ ■ a "^ "*-• '^ ^ y^ , *"* ■4-t ""^ ■J-. tc c P 3 ^ 1 ;_ 5J , '~', c '— 'JZ -*-• U, -, D be o 5J •4-1 a, 5 C O 1/3 rr v: t/: o CJ y. O o fee .s ■" o -= ~ ^ ._ C •4-1 o o CJ o o CJ a, 3 C "5 ~ i> li o ^ c ^» -- f/: •4~» c c c •-C c/^ C ■^— 03 OJ -- — . tij ;_ ■*-» c t/3 ■4-' w fcJD C u CJ u G ■y. O t/5 U ■y. CJ or u (LI u J2 3 00 C O o OJ DESCRIPTION OK TllR DIPTYCH AT WILTON HOUSE, CONTAINING A PORTRAIT OF RICHARD II. HY GEORGE SCHAKF, F.S.A. WILTON HOUSE DIPTYCH. RICHARD THE SECOND. Bonx AT BoRPEACX, Ai'RiL 3ui>, 13G0. Dkthrosed ht PAin.iAMKxr, 30™ Ski'tkiiher, 131»0. iloniimpiital pfUgy in AVpstmiiistcr Abliey, wrought in lii? lifetime, A.n. 1395. From Hollis's "Monumental Effigies." Tlio Icfi-liand figure exhibits the rich patterning upon his garments. See page 44. DESCRIPTION OF THE WILTON HOUSE DIPTYCH, CONTAINING A CONTEMPOKAllY ruimiAlT OF KING rilCHARD THE SECOND, BY GEOrtGE SCHAKF, F.S.A. DIRECTOR OF THE SATIOXAL POKTBAIT GALLEKY, AND ME.MlJlill OF lUE GERMAN .UlCU.tOLOGICAL IKSTITUTE. PRINTED FOR Till] ARUNDEL SOCIETr. 1882. ^ A '^ u^ ?43 ,e * • ' , « , / Nt longer the proph-ty oftfw CHISWICK KRRS-i:— C. WHITTINt.HAM ANB CO. TOnKS COt'BT, CHANCERY LANE. >5i a SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. Earliest record of the Diptych, 1G30. Van der Doort's description. Engraved by Hollar, 1G30. In possession of King Charles the First. In possession of the Earl of Castlemaiue. Purchased by the Earl of Pembroke. ■ Modern external casing to the Diptych. Folding tablets and folding pictures. Regal portraits in St. Stephen's Chapel. Portrait of John, King of France. Westminster Abbey portrait of Rluhard 11. Gilt and diapered backgrounds. •• »• ■ Canopy to the tomb of Richard II. Description of figures on the Wilton Diptvch. Edward the Confessor. Brocade and Embroideries. Costume of Richard II. in 1381. Broom-cod collar or device. Monumental effigy of the King in Westminster Abbey, wrought in 18t)5. Punctured or pounced-work patterns. Metrical History of Richard II. e.xliiljit.s the King'.', latent portrait. Costume of the Virgin and Angels in Diptych. Red cross banner. Wreaths of roses. White Hart badges. Remarkable emblems in nimbus of the Infant Saviour. St. Louis King of France adopt (mI the same. External paintings on Diptych. Arms of England impaling those of lldwavd the Confessor. The White Uart lodged. VI Summarij of Contents. Tcclmiuul observatious. Probable date of tlic painting. Crusaders' banners. The Tapal Sdiism of 1378. lied Crosses on WLite Cloaks. Incitement to lead a Crusade. London during the Insurrection of 1381. Variations in Art according to Nationality-. Excellence of Flemish painters before and after the rulf uf lUirgundy. Illuminations in Manuscripts the most reliable evidence as to style and period. The countenances ponrtrayed in the Diptych are English in character, and quite distinct from Italian and German. Minuteness and accuracy of the copy made from the original, and faith- fulness of the chromolithic reproduction. Chronological table. Index. \ I :i -J From tlic largo full-length picture iu 'Westminster Abljoj-. T70R the earliest historical account and a general explanation of the subject of this painting we are indebted to a de- scriptive catalogue of the [)ictnres and works of art Avhich belonged to King Charles I. in IGol). The manuscript was prepared ))}' Abraham A'ander Doort, in obedience to the King's command, and is preserved among the Ashmolean treasures in tlic I'odleian Library at Oxford. A more finished copy (but of the first portion only), annotated ])y ihe King's own hand, formerly at Strawberry Hill, is now in the Royal 8 Wilton House rortrait of Richard the Second. Library at AVindsor. The Aslimolcan manuscript has been printed in 1757 in quarto, under the supervision of George Yertue, entitled " A Catalogue a7id Description of King Charles the First's Cajntal Collection.^' The following passage, at page 173, near the end of the volume, relates to the picture which is about to occupy our attention : — " An altarpiece with two shutting all over gilded "doors, wherein is painted on the one side Richard the " Second sideling, kneeling in his golden robes to our Lady, " besides him standing S'. John Baptist with a white lamb, " and King Edward the Confessor, with a ring on his left "hand, standing by, and S'. Edmund with an arrow in his "left hand, and upon the other door, our Lady and Christ, "and some eleven Angels all in blue, with garlands of roses " upon their heads, the badge of the white hind upon their "left shoulders ; on the outside of the door, the arms of " Edward the Confessor, with a red hat and mantle ; which '■'■ said piece was given to the King, by Sir James Palmer, u-ho " had it of the Lord Jennings. Length 1 foot 9 inches." This, it will be observed, on comparison with the Chromo- lithograph, is not altogether a precise description ; but al- lowance is to be made for the writer being a foreigner. Yan- der Doort, however, had been a considerable time in England, as he quitted the service of the Emperor of Germany Rodolph II., and attached himself to Henry, Prince of Wales, who died in 1G12. He was appointed medallist to King Charles I. in 1G25.* * See Bathoc's edition of King Charles's Catalogue, p. 1C4 ; anil AVal- polo's " Auccdotcs," edited by Da'.laway and 'Worninn, p. 206. Earliest knoicn liecord of the Diptijcli. 9 From an earlier page (72) of ^'ancIer Doort's catalogue, where the engraving is described, we obtain a lew further 2>articulars of the history of this picture, and find that Wen- ceslaus Hollar had at this very time completed the engraving of it which is well known to comioisseurs, bearing the dale 1G39, with the following dedication to the King : — " Serenlithio, rolenlistimo et ExcellcnUtsimo Frundp!, Carolo, Dei gratia, " ilagna: Brillanice Francke et HihernicB Jlegi Fidei dcjensori, Has taloUas aqua "forti (seeundum anliqtui originalia colorilnit depida) (eri insculjiias HumUlime " dedlcat comeeralq : IVciiceslaui JloUav, Bohem ; A". 1C39, cum rrivllegio Sac. '• Peg. ilojeslafis." • The entrj' on page 72 runs thus: — "Item, In a black "ebony frame, a jiiccc (from copper) printed upon pjqxr, "which was copied from the King's old altar piece, which " his Majesty had of the Lady Jeniungs, by Sir James Palmer's " means, for the which, in the way of exchange, his Majesty "gave his own picture in oil colours done by Lemons." The mention of Lady Jennings, instead of her husband, and therefore, it may be inferred, his survivor, raises a difficulty, as no lord, baronet, or knight of that name existed at this pcriotl. The Dutch compiler is known in several instances to have made errors in transcribing names, so that it is quite possible that the previous possessor of the Diptych was Sir Thomas Jermyn, Knight, of Rushbroke, Suffolk, who held the office of Vice-Chamberlain of the Royal Household from 1G2G to 163*J. t Sir Thomas Jermyn was made Knight of the Bath at St. James', July 24, 1G0;5. Instances of official dignitaries • Parthoy'a "Ilollar," vol. i. p. IJ ; and Anstis, p. 112. t Soo Haydn's '-Book of Difjiiitics," Ucatsou's " Political Inde.r," 1806, vol. i. p. 42o, and Nichols' " Progresses of King James 1st," p. 2tiC. 10 WiUon House For trait of Rkhard the Second. efiectiii',' 8uch exchanges occur not unlrequcntly in the catalogue. Sir James Palmer,* through -whose intervention the transfer was made, was a great favourite at Court, and much consulted by the King on matters of art. His son, Roger Pahiier, be- came Earl of Castlemaine and husband of the favourite of Charles II., the celebrated Duchess of Cleveland. To him it is said, but only I believe on the authority of Gambarini, that King James 11. gave this Diptych when sending him on an embassy to Rome. At all events, it had wandered from the royal collection, and after the death of Lord Castlemaine in July, 1705, was purchased by Thomas Herbert, eighth Earl of Pembroke, the collector, and has been carefully treasured by his descendants at Wilton House ever since. The Earl of Pembroke f was devoted to antique art. He served in the navy, and held the appointment, of First Com- missioner of the Admiralty and Lord President of the Council. In consequence of his scientific attainments, he was elected President of the Royal Society. It was during the period between his resignation of the office of Lord High Admiral in favour of Prince George of Denmark in 1702, and his ap- pointment as Lord Liei;tenant of Ireland in 1707, that this Diptych came into his collection. Lord Pembroke died January, 1733, aged 77, and during his lifetime two de- scriptions of the relic had been published. The first, b)' John Anstis, in " The Register of the Order of the Garter," pul)lished in two folio volumes, in 1724. At the head of * Wal pole's "Anecdotes," D. and W., p. 373. f Collins' " Peerage," edition 1812, vol. iii. p. 140. Diptych Eiifjraved bi/ Ho/la r In 1639. 11 the section setting I'ortli " the Reason of tho Introduction of "the Order," vol. ii., page 61, and addressed to Thomas, Earl of Pembroke, are inserted two very imperfect engravings of the devices painted on the outside of the Diptych, which will hereafter be described. At page 112, Anstis refers minutely to the kneeling figure of Richard II., and quotes in i'liU Pecham's Latin explanatory lines appended to Hollar's en- graving.* As the passage is addressed by Anstis to the then possessor of the Dipytch, no reference to its former history would have been required; but the other writer, C. Gamburini of Lucca, gives more detailed particulars in his " Descriplii)ii "of the Earl of Pembroke's Pictures," published in 8vo. at Westminster in 1731. This work is written confusedly uiid in very bad English. The ibllowing passages will afford a sullicient specimen of his style. Page 5 : — " This picture was given by King James 2nd " to the Lord Castlemaine when he went Ambassador to Rome. " My Lord bought it of his Heirs after he died. The Pictures " (sic) since Sir Peter Lely advised to put on the back thick "Priming that could not soak through, receives uo Prejudice "as Painting on the wall docs even in Italy as in the Vatican. "It is dated 1410 and etched by Holler" (sic). Hence it is probable that the strips of gilt metal, with the engraved letters which have led to a great deal of needless discussion, had even then been fastened to the Irame. The picture and its original mounting had been completely encased in glass before Walpole saw it. He tells us in the "Anecdotes of Painting," 17(!2, tliat lie had liccii uiialile to examine the • See iwtl, page 40. 12 Wilton House Foriralt of Richard the Second. surface of" the painting so as to decide whether it was painted in oil or tempera. Walpole adds, " To the bottom of this picture are affixed the icords ' Invention of painting in oil, (j-c.,' " and he pondered over them as seriously as if they had been written upon the picture itself, without arriving at any conclusion. A few years later, in 1766, a very careful description of the Diptych was published in the second volume of the " English Connoisseur," page 160, Avhere the inscriptions are thus repro- duced : — " on two brass plates on the bottom of the picture is "engraved '•Invention of Paiiiting in oyle 1410. TIds was " ^painted before in thebeginning of Richard 2^ 1377.;' and on " the second plate, to the right, ' Uollar grav'd (j- Ded : it " ' to K. Ch. V S,- calls it Tabida a^itiqua of K. Ric'^. 2''. «;'* his 3 " ' Saints Patrons, S'J" Bap\ cj- 2 & S' Edmund (j- Edw"". Conf: " No notice whatever is taken of the paintings on the back, and no mention in either this or Walpole's work is made of any former ownership of the picture. Granger, in describing the plate by Hollar, vol. i., i)age 16, edition 1824, says that the original picture is in the collection of the Earl of Pembroke, and " was " in the royal collection, but given by James II. to Lord " Castlemaine." A more lucid description of the picture, in- cluding the brass plates and paintings on the back, will be found ill " The Beauties of Wiltshire," in 8vo., 1801, written by John Britton (vol. i., pages 192-196). lie also inserts some technical observations made in 1800 by Mr. Thomas riiillips, the eminent portrait-painter. In 1833, J. D. Passavant, in his " Kunstreise," pnlilished at Frankfurt am ]\l:iin, gives at page 140 a detailed account of this picture. He attributes the painting to an Italian hand of the middle of the fifteenth century. } Diplijt'h Piuxhmed hij the Earl of Pembroke. 13 and is reminded ut" the School of Fra Angclieo, and Cobinio Rosselli. Two years later, in 1835, Dr. G. F. Waageii* care- fully examined the picture, and unhesitatingly pronounced it a distemper painting, and the work of a very able Italian painter, who probably lived at the Court of King Kichard II. in tJK^ same niaiuier as, in the thirteenth century, a painter iVom Florence, named William, was in the service of King Henry III. He mentions also that the [ticture was presented by James II. to Lord Castlemaine, and afterwards purchased by Thomas, Earl of Pembroke. This Diptych, during the short period that wc know of its existence in the royal collection, docs not appear to have occupied a position of any importance. It had indeed been only recently acquired, and therefore perhaps was deposited, accord- ing to Vander Doort's Catalogue (page 171), among "pictures " and other things kept in store and yet unplaced." We caimot trace the picture in any list of the King's works of art dis- jx^rsed by order of the Parliament. The same, also, may be said of the miniatures and portraits of sovereigns which are conspicuous in Vander Doort's list, and are still to be found among the property belonging to the crown. From Whitehall these treasures were transferred to Kensington Palace, and finally to Windsor Castle. It would be dilHcnlL to allege a reason for the transfer of this Diiityeh to Lord Castlemaine, in lGIain. Another historical picture with complicated folding arraiio-o- ments, but in reality triptychal, deserves attention here on • See Mr. Wealc'e descriiition, p. 9. 20 Wilton House rorlrait of Richard the Second. account of" the great peculiarity of the disposition of the tablets. They arc all three exactly of the same size and shape, and, by a very clever construction of the hinges, literally rest one upon the other. As the subjects of the paintings are portraits, there would be no need for any particular sequence between them. The backs of the panels are quite [)laiM, and show no signs of ever having been painted. They represent the " Three Children " of the King of Castile," and, under that title, arc recognizable as a group that had formerly belonged to King Henry YIII., according to an inventory taken of his pictures at Whitehall in 1542. They are not traceable in the catalogue of pictures belonging to Charles I., but became the i«*operty of the late Evelyn Philip Shirley, Esq., F.S.A., of Ettington Park, Stratford-upon-Avon.* The persons represented are Charles, afterwards emperor, and his two sisters Leonora and Isabella. The triptych Av^as probably given by Philippe le Beau and Jeanne la Folle, parents of the children therein rejiresented, to King Henry VII., to commemorate a visit which they un- expectedly paid to this country at the beginning of 1505. In entering upon consideration of the interesting paintings on this Diptych, which have been so ably reproduced by means of the pencil of Ilerr Kaiser, we must at first concentrate our attention upon the kneeling monarch figured on the left-hand tablet, and endeavour to ascertain the position which it is entitled to hold among other known royal portraits. The figure of King Richard II. here presented may certainly be considered to be one of the earliest and most refined regal portraits extant, not only in l^igland, but in any * See '' Archaiologia of the Society of Antiquaries," vol. xlii. p. 250; 1869. lieaal Povlraits in >it. Stephens Chapel. 21 European country. Until within the hist filty ycai's, a remark- able series of royal portraits existed at Westminster on the walls of the ancient Chapel of St. Stephen, that had been con- verted into the House of Commons. They perished in the lamentable fire of 1831, which destroyed the Houses of Parliament and adjoining buildings. On the cast end of the chapel, both above and on either side of the altar, wore painted in compartments a scries of sacred subjects, including the Adoration of the Magi and Presentation in the Temple, and a row of kneeling figures below, representing King Edward III., preceded by St. George, also kneeling, and his Queen Philippa on the opposite side, together with their sons and daughters, each in a separate niche. The Black Prince, as a young man in full armour, was very prominent. The precise date of these [)aintings, soon after the year 1355, is ascertained by the fact of the king's youngest son, who Avas born in that year, being intro- duced.* These i)aintings were of very great importance in the history of art, inasmuch as having been associated witli the most sacred functions, it may Ijc inferred that the best available talent would have been secured for their execution. iVIoreover, the accounts for payment coimected with the con- struction are still extant, and it is known that the best materials were employed. Fortunatel}', accurate records of many of these paintings had been preserved before the occurrence of tiie lire.f In the • Shaw's " Dresses and Prcorations," vol. i. plate 30. t Smith's " Antiquities of Westminster," London, 4to. 1837. Sec pp. vl. and vii. of the Prcfoce ; and plate facing p. 153. 22 Wilton House Portrait of liichard the Second. month of August, 1800, during some alteration of the littiiigs of the House of Commons, the existence of these paintings was first discovered. They hiy concealed behind woodwork, and could only be exposed for a very short time during the process of reconstruction. An artist, Mr. liichard Smirke, was employed to trace and make copies of them for the Society of Antiquaries, which were published in a large handsome volume with descriptive text by Sir Henry Charles Englefield ; and Mr. John Thomas Smith also made drawings from them, which he published independently. The figures of King Edward and of the Black Prince are reproduced in coloured plates in Shaw's " Dresses and Decorations," and the same Avork con- tains a minute and faithful representation, in colours also, of the kneeling Richard of this dipytch, but the figure alone is given. A portrait of a foreign monarch, of a more recent date, and probably executed in England, is the curious profile, somewhat larger than life, of John, King of France, who died in captivity in London, at the Savoy, 1364, and still 2)reserved in the national collection at Paris. It was engraved in a very finished style, in the dotted manner, by W. T. Fry, from a drawing executed for the Pev. T. F. Dibdin by I\I. Canire.* This portrait has also been reproduced in Avood engraving, but Avith greater attention to its actual condition, in the " Arcluvologia " of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. xxxviii., ])age 1!>7, from a draAving done from the original by Mr. E. J. Poyntor, P. A. It is described by the last- named gcnllenian as " ;i]>paronlly pnintcd in tempera or l)ody * Dibdiu's " Bibliograjiliical and riclurcpquc Tour in France and Ger- " many," 1821, vol. ii. p. 1-10. Porlra'd of John ^ Kukj of France. *23 " colour, on ii jesso ground, sprciid upon rather coarse canvas. " There is round the [)ortr:iit a wooden I'ranie, formed of a " small ogee moulding, which has been gilded as well as the " background. It has evidently been the original moulding " round the panel, which was probably let into a wall," The frame does not appear in the woodcut given in the " Arcluvologia," but is carefully shown in Dr. Dibdin's volume, after M. Ca'ure's drawing. The size of the original is 22 in, by 14 in.* It is supposed to have been the work of Maitre Girard d'Orleans, King John's painter, who was with him. in England, and is mentioned in several items of the accounts of exjMjnditure during the king's detention in this country. An approximate date of 1360 may be assigned to it. This was the year of the king's temporary freedom and i-eturn to France. The Rev. Edwaz'd Trollope, F.S.A.,f the present liishop of Nottingham, has collected some ver}' interesting particulars of the king's sojourn in England, which will be referred to subsequently. The Westminster Abbey portrait of King Richard II. exhibits the monarch, full faced, seated on his throne and holding the regal attributes, the orb and sceptre. It is perhaps more generally known than the proiile on the Dii»tych. The figure is full-length and somewhat larger than lii'e. This picture has been frequently engraved, and the head alone was published in 1C18 by Elstrack in the "r>asiliol()gi;i," tlie first published series of [lortraits of English sovereigns. Sandford, in the first • " Arclueologia," p. T.'7, note n. t Sec a cominuuicaliou from tlic Rev. Edward Trollopp, F.S.A., to the LiDColiisliiro Arcliiteetural Society, iu "Memoirs of tlio Associated Societies," Lincoln, ls67. 24 ] I "ilton House Portrait of Richard the Second. edition of his "Genealogical History of England," 1G77, in- troduced a very careful transcript of the face, and was especially accurate in copying the peculiar growth of the moustaches. The engraving occurs on page 127. The entire figure was engraved by G. Ycrtue in 1718 after a drawing by Grisoni, and again, with much greater fidelity, by John Carter in 178G. The latter appears in his valualde work entitled " Specimens of the Ancient Sculpture and Painting "now remaining in this Kingdom," two volumes folio, London, 1780-1794. The AVestminster portrait had for successive periods been a victim to extensive restorations^ such at least they were termed, but in reality clumsj' and coarse re-paintings, so that, at length, the picture ceased to be regarded as of any importance beyond giving the costume of the monarch. When removed from the Jerusalem Chamber to the better light of the South Kensington Gallery during the Loan Exhibition of National Portraits in 18GG, it was suggested by Mr. George Richmond, li.A., that the picture was not beyond the possibility of a satisfactory restoration. Having received full sanction from Dr. Stanley, the Dean of Westminster, Mr. Richmond con- fided the picture to the experienced hands of the late Mr. Henry Merritt, and under his supervision the experiments were commenced. In a short time, after testing a small portion, suflUcient proofs were obtained to warrant proceeding with the whole, and in the course of a fcAV months the picture resumed what must very nearly have been its original appearance. The following notes of the change thus effected will serve to show Enthroned Forlmit in Westminster Abbey. 25 the main points of divergence. They arc taken from observa- tions by the present writer "On the Westminster Abbey "portrait of Richard II., reprinted with corrections and addi- "tions from the ' Fmc Arts Quarterly Review,' " 18G7. " Instead of a Iar