1.2 Van Somer, Mijtens, van Mierevelt
Mention need be made here only in passing to Paul van Somer I (c. 1577-1622). A Flemish artist, he continued the portrait tradition established by the two Gheeraerts1 in England and by the Pourbus family on the Continent. He was in London from 1606 at the latest and in Leiden on various occasions in between.2 His finely drawn portraits of leading figures and high-ranking individuals dressed in precious gold-embroidered robes, which the painter endeavoured to render with meticulous care, must have been very popular and highly esteemed. They were frequently sent abroad. When Anthony van Dyck arrived in London in 1620 he initially failed to overcome this largely old-fashioned style.3
The real successor to van Somer was Daniel Mijtens I (c. 1590-1647), whose significance has been much overshadowed by van Dyck’s more glamorous persona.4 Mijtens must have arrived in England as early as 1613, lured there by the success of Paulus van Somer, to whom he was related. Mijtens’ early works testify to van Somer’s comprehensive influence, as is readily apparent from the portraits he made in 1613 of Sir Edward Sackville and his brother Richard Sackville (collection of Margaret, Countess of Suffolk and Berkshire) [1-2].5 Like van Somer, he still concentrates mainly on the careful rendering of the costumes, which enables him to give free rein to his sense of colour. The faces and hands are painted in a less sophisticated style than that of his predecessor. Among the major works from Mijtens’ early period are two large portraits of Thomas Arundel (1585-1646) and his wife Aletheia Talbot (1582-1654) (collection of the Duke of Norfolk) which were previously attributed to van Somer [3-4].6 These pictures may be the ones mentioned in 1618. At that time Mijtens sent two small copies that he had made of them to Dudley Carleton (1573-1632) in The Hague, since Arundel was not inclined to part company with the large portraits.7 One can well imagine that Arundel would have been keen to retain these monumental, spatially well-constructed portraits, rendered in a warm tones. It is no exaggeration to say that these were the first characteristic, high-quality Dutch portraits of prominent English individuals.
Mijtens made further progress down his chosen path and became the official successor to van Somer after the latter’s death. 1620 is the first year in which mention is made of any royal payments for portraits of James I and Prince Charles [5].8 In 1624 Mijtens was granted a pension, which greatly increased after the accession to the throne of Charles I, whose special favour the artist enjoyed. He produced no fewer than 15 portraits of the monarch,9 among which the fine example in the National Gallery in Ottawa and others in Copenhagen and the National Portrait Gallery deserve special mention [6-8]. Charles I conferred his royal favour on Mijtens right up to the artist’s death [9].10 A pension was paid to him in The Hague, whither he returned in 1634 after a successful career in England with numerous commissions.
1
attributed to William Larkin
Portrait of Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset (1590-1652), c. 1613
Blackheath (Greater London), Ranger's House (English Heritage)
2
attributed to William Larkin
Portrait of Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset (1589-1624), dated 1613
Blackheath (Greater London), Ranger's House (English Heritage)
3
Daniël Mijtens (I)
Portrait of Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel (1585-1646), c. 1618
London (England), National Portrait Gallery, inv./cat.nr. NPG 5292
4
Daniël Mijtens (I)
Portrait of Aletheia Talbot, Countess of Arundel (died 1654), c. 1618
London (England), National Portrait Gallery, inv./cat.nr. NPG 5293
5
Daniël Mijtens (I)
Portrait of Charles I as Prince of Wales (1600-1649, c. 1621
Private collection
6
Daniël Mijtens (I)
Portrait of Charles I as Prince of Wales (1600-1649), dated 1624
Ottawa (Canada), National Gallery of Canada, inv./cat.nr. 768
7
attributed to Daniël Mijtens (I)
Portrait of Charles I of England (1600-1649) as Prince of Wales, dated 1624
Copenhagen, SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, inv./cat.nr. KMSsp372
8
Daniël Mijtens (I)
Portrait of King Charles I (1600-1649), dated 1631
London (England), National Portrait Gallery, inv./cat.nr. NPG 1246
There is not the slightest trace of Flemish art in Mijtens’ oeuvre, although Walpole reports that he studied Rubens’ work before going to England. Mijtens’ portraits, with their strong, ruddy faces, friendly appearance and honest, middle-class gentility are reminiscent of the portraits that Michiel van Mierevelt and Jan van Ravesteyn painted in Holland. In many respects Mijtens’ works are superior to theirs. Among his best portraits is the full-length that he made in 1629 of the first Duke of Hamilton, the grey and light blue tones of which give him a noble and distinguished air [10]. Shortly before his departure from London, Mijtens appears to have fallen slightly under the influence of van Dyck, with whom he could not ultimately compete (portrait of the first Countess of Middlesex in Knole in 1634) [11].11 In Holland, however, he returned to his natural style of painting. The portraits that he painted in 1643 of the burgomaster Thomas Cletscher and his wife Anna Hoeufft (Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, new acquisition, 1938) [12-13] are by no means the works of a follower of van Dyck.
9
Daniël Mijtens (I)
Self portrait of Daniel Mijtens I (c. 1590-c. 1648), c. 1630
Hampton Court Palace (Molesey), Royal Collection - Hampton Court, inv./cat.nr. RCIN 404431
10
Daniël Mijtens (I)
Portrait of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606 -1649), dated 1629
Edinburgh (city, Scotland), Scottish National Portrait Gallery, inv./cat.nr. PG 2733
11
studio of Anthony van Dyck
Portrait of Anne Brett, Countess of Middlesex (c.1600-1669/70), dated 1630 - 1669
Sevenoaks (England), Knole House, inv./cat.nr. 129892
12
Daniël Mijtens (I)
Portrait of Thomas Cletcher (1598-1668), husband of Anna Hoeufft, dated 1643
The Hague, Haags Historisch Museum
13
Daniël Mijtens (I)
Portrait of Anna Hoeufft (1607-1664), third wife of Thomas Cletcher, dated 1643
The Hague, Haags Historisch Museum
Both Prince Henry and Charles I attempted in vain to attract Michiel van Mierevelt (1566-1641) to their courts.12 The plague was alleged to have prevented him from coming.13 Nonetheless, the number of portraits that Mierevelt painted of people from England (at The Hague?) is striking.14 Portraits by him were sent to London on a number of occasions. In 1621 Sir Dudley Carleton sent a portrait of Frederik Hendrik to Lord Arundel; in 1628 he enquired with a note of irritation whether Mierevelt’s portraits of Frederik Hendrik and his wife were still not finished. Sir Dudley Carleton had dispatched reports on the painter to London as early as 1616. When Arundel accompanied James I’s daughter, the young Princess Elizabeth, and the Count Palatine Friedrich to the Palatinate in 1613, Mierevelt was obliged to follow the procession to the borders of the States General. Needless to say, he produced portraits of Arundel and others in his entourage on that occasion.15 Several works by the painter are to be found in the inventory of Charles I, and in an older inventory (in the collection of James I?) mention is made of a painting of the Prince of Orange by ‘Michael Johnson’, which is probably a reference to him.16 Amongst Mierevelt’s debtors ‘anno 1628’ was ‘the agent Carleton’, who had still not paid for a copy made after a portrait of an English lady at the Countess Palatine’s court. The Earl of Oxford was also listed in Mierevelt’s accounts as not having paid for a portrait.17 The artist’s style is reflected in many anonymous English portraits of this time (National Portrait Gallery, nos. 52, 111, 818) [14-16]. It should not be forgotten that many officers who served under the Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (1532-1588) in Holland gladly took the opportunity to have their portrait taken while they were there.18 In 1591, his nephew, Robert Sidney, subsequently 1st Earl of Leicester (1563-1626) sent a number of paintings from the Dutch Republic to England which ‘have cost a good deal of money’.19 Sir Dudley Carleton was an avid art lover who purchased works not only for Arundel and James I but also for himself. In 1616 he was in Haarlem, where he visited Cornelis van Haarlem, Hendrik Vroom and Hendrick Goltzius, who by that time was a very old man. In 1624 his wife had to travel to Vlissingen in poor weather to attend an art auction.20 Carleton’s predecessor as ambassador to The Hague, Sir Henry Wotton (1568-1639) [17], was also an art lover who regularly sent pictures to England.21
14
after Daniël Mijtens (I)
Portrait of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton (1573-1624), c. 1618
London (England), National Portrait Gallery, inv./cat.nr. 52
15
studio of Michiel van Mierevelt
Portrait of Anna Gerrard (c. 1585-1627), Lady Carleton, c. 1625
London (England), National Portrait Gallery, inv./cat.nr. NPG 111
16
Michiel van Mierevelt
Portrait of Horace Vere, Baron Vere of Tilbury (1565-1635), dated 1629
London (England), National Portrait Gallery, inv./cat.nr. 818
Michiel van Mierevelt
Portrait of Henry Wotton (1568-1639), dated 1620
London (England), art dealer The Weiss Gallery
Notes
1 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] In fact, Marcus Gheeraerts I produced only one known surviving individual portrait in England – a small-scale portrait of Elizabeth I (RKDimages 143613).
2 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] Gerson derived this from Von Wurzbach 1906-1911, vol. 2, p. 638-639, who wrote that van Somer was in London in 1606. In reality, he only settled in London by December 1616, where he stayed until his death. On van Somer: see K. Hearn in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).
3 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] In 1620-1621 van Dyck was only in London for a brief first visit.
4 [Gerson 1942/1983] For Daniel Mijtens, see e.g.: Stopes 1910; Collins Baker 1912, vol. 1, p. 34; Bredius/Moes 1907; Toynbee 1939; Van Gelder 1939. [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] Ter Kuile 1969 with biography, family tree, an oeuvre catalogue of 107 paintings and archival documents. See also A. Thackray in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004/2009).
5 [Gerson 1942/1983] Like many of the following portraits, exhibited in London at the Exhibition of 17th Century Art in Europe (Waterhouse et al. 1935, no. 14 and 17). [Hearn/Van Leeuwen 2022] The Suffolk Collection of paintings is now owned by English Heritage, and is currently displayed at Kenwood, in north London. The attribution changed from Daniel Mijtens to Isaac Oliver (Waterhouse 1953, p. 28, pl. 25) and finally to William Larkin (c. 1585-1619), which is the one accepted today (Strong 1969, p. 323-324, no. 341-342, ill.); Hearn et al. 1995, p. 198-200, no. 135, ill.; Houliston 2012, p.188-191, 184-187. According to a letter of 18 August 1618 Daniel Mijtens was already in London, where he had already painted some works (Ter Kuile 1969, p. 2 and 25).
6 [Gerson 1942/1983] Walpole et al. 1762/1876 (ed. Wornum), vol. 1, p. 209-210. Ill. [Hearn/Van Leeuwen 2022] Now owned by the National Portrait Gallery, London. Ter Kuile 1969, p. 43-45, no. 1-2, ill.; Hearn et al. 1995, p. 208-211, no. 140-141, ill. (color).
7 [Gerson 1942/1983] Carpenter 1844, p. 176-177.
8 [Gerson 1942/1983] Portrait in sale London 14-15 July 1920, no. 127, ill.; Kelly 1920. [Hearn/Van Leeuwen 2022] Ter Kuile 1969, p. 53-54, no. 19, fig. 17.
9 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] Ter Kuile 1969 lists 17 portraits of Charles I, nos. 19-35.
10 [Gerson 1942/1983] It is said that his self-portrait was placed alongside those of Rubens and Van Dyck in the king's Breakfast Room at the express request of the king (Walpole et al. 1762/1876 (ed. Wornum), vol. 1, p. 300). [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] It is often stated that Mijtens left England in 1634 because Van Dyck outshone him, suggesting a lack of appreciation for Mijtens in general and a competitive relationship between the two artists. In fact, it is unclear why the family left Britain and returned to The Hague permanently, since they crossed the North Sea several times during their stay. Mijtens’s wife, Susanna Droeshout (1584-1668) was a miniature painter; no works by her are known today.
11 [Gerson 1942/1983] Collins Baker 1912, vol.1, p. 48. [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] No longer attributed to Daniel Mijtens but considered to have been painted by a studio assistant to Anthony van Dyck.
12 [Gerson 1942/1983] Walpole et al. 1762/1876 (ed. Wornum), vol. 1, p. 234. [Hearn/Van Leeuwen 2022] In 1611 Sir Edward Conway, the Governor of Den Briel until 1616, initiated ultimately unsuccessful negotiations to bring Mierevelt to England, and to work for Henry, Prince of Wales (White/de Sancha 1982/2015, p. 16). Charles I subsequently tried to persuade him to come to England in 1625 (Jansen/Ekkart/Verhave 2011, p. 77-78).
13 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] As stated in Van Bleyswijck 1667, vol. 2, p. 850. In the summer of 1625 more than 350,000 people in London died of the plague (Jansen/Ekkart/Verhave 2011, p. 83, note 23).
14 [Gerson 1942/1983] Huybrecht Jacobsz. Grimani (c. 1562-1631) is said to have painted many English people in Delft (Walpole et al. 1762/1876 (ed. Wornum), vol. 3, p. 319). [Hearn/Van Leeuwen 2022] Houbraken also states this (Houbraken 1718-1721, vol. 1, p. 178; Horn/Van Leeuwen 2021, vol. 1, p. 178). Also according to Houbraken English gentlemen did not have the patience to sit to him for long, which is why Grimani painted them quickly, at the expense of quality. Van Mierevelt however did not alter his painting technique for English clients, except that he chose to use thicker panels for their portraits (Jansen/Verhave 2015, p. 308).
15 [Gerson 1942/1983] Hervey 1921, p. 73. [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] Jansen/Ekkart/Verhave 2011, ‘Painting for the English’, p. 75-77; Jansen/Verhave 2015.
16 [Gerson 1942/1983] Sainsbury 1859, p. 291, 355.
17 [Gerson 1942/1983] Bredius 1908, p. 7. [Hearn/Van Leeuwen 2022] A Portrait of Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford (1593-1625), sold at Bonhams (London) on 21 April 2004, no. 22, as circle of Michiel van Mierevelt, may have been connected with this commission. The Earl of Oxford had died in June 1625 in The Hague and was buried in Westminster Abbey on 25 July 1625; this may explain why Mierevelt had still not been not paid in 1627. RKDimages 192664.
18 [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] See Town/David 2019. On Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester: Goldring 2014.
19 [Gerson 1942/1983] Van Biema 1917. [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] ] In the original text, Gerson erroneously confused the two Earls. Robert Sidney became the next Earl of Leicester, by a new creation, in 1603.
20 [Gerson 1942/1983] Carpenter 1844, p. 177; Sainsbury 1859, p. 12-13, 291-291. [Hearn/van Leeuwen 2022] on Carleton and art: Hill 1999.
21 [Hearn/Van Leeuwen 2022] In fact, Wotton’s interest was in Italian art. His activity in acquiring Netherlandish art for his English clients was not as significant as Gerson implies, and few acquisitions by him are known. While he was the ambassador at The Hague, Wotton offered an unidentified painting to Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset (1587-1645), and he was later to bequeath a painting of Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia by an anonymous Netherlandish artist (RKDimages 273223) to the future Charles II (research Petra Jalšovec). On Wootton: McBurney 2014.