Sir Anthony van Dyck

Private collection, Norfolk.

STRUCTURE The panel is chamfered on all sides, is flat and appears to be in good stable condition but for an old horizontal repaired split along the grain which runs through the heads of the figures, however this is only visible in the paint surface when viewed under a raking light. PAINT SURFACE The painting is lighter in tone than the catalogue illustration would suggest, and the illustration has been very slightly cropped in the catalogue. The painting appears to be in good overall condition but for an old discoloured varnish and surface dirt overall. There are no areas of damage or loss of paint except for a very minor surface scratch running from the lower panel edge and into Goring's breastplate through the outstretched arm of the Page, however this is only visible when again viewed in a raking light. There are three very minor dimples, likewise visible under a raking light, one upper centre and two above Blount upper left. There is also evidence of minor abrasion to the panel edge most probably caused by an old ill-fitting frame, which includes a minor chip in the panel edge centre right which is not visible in the catalogue. There is also a slight but circular discolouration in the centre as can be seen in the catalogue illustration. ULTRAVIOLET Examination under ultraviolet light confirms the presence of the varnish and reveals minor retouching to the implied fictive frame upper centre, lower left and lower right and to a lesser extent the aforementioned split in the panel. There is also very slight retouching to the lower left hand edge of the background column in the centre as well as scattered flecks of cosmetic retouching in the background particularly in the upper left and lower right hand corners. Finally there has been some strengthening to the form of the Page and to a lesser extent Blount. Overall however the panel is in good condition. FRAME The work is being offered unframed. To speak to a specialist about this lot please contact Julian Gascoigne on +44 (0)207 293 5482, or at julian.gascoigne@sothebys.com, or Ludo Shaw Stewart on +44 (0)207 293 5816, or at ludovic.shawstewart@sothebys.com.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Previously unrecorded, this painting is a preparatory sketch for van Dyck's double portrait of Mountjoy Blount, 1^st Earl of Newport and George, Lord Goring, painted circa 1639 (National Trust, Petworth House, Sussex, fig.1).  Newport and Goring both held high office in the King's army during the Bishops' Wars; Newport being Master General of the Ordnance, and General of Artillery in the North, whilst Goring was Lieutenant-General of Cavalry, and the composition is believed to commemorate this episode in the two men's careers. The two were also connected by marriage, Newport's wife's nephew being married to Goring's sister.

The sketch shows both men in military dress, as if preparing for battle, as in the finished painting, with Goring's sash being tied by a page. The motif is Venetian in origin, and demonstrates the influence of works such as the Giorgionesque so called Portrait of Gaston de Foix (Castle Howard), in which a young page can be seen fastening the sitter's armour. There are, however, a number of important differences between the present work and the finished painting. In the latter the two principal figures are brought closer together, enhancing the intimacy of the relationship between the two, and van Dyck alters the slightly awkward contraposto of Newport's pose; rotating the body in on the composition, bringing the left arm forward to grasp his sword belt, rather than being thrust back on the hip, which is his typical model for expressing male vigour, and lowering the right arm to expose the Page's face. On the right, there are further differences; in the position of Goring's right arm, and in the stance of the Page, both of whose arms are brought forward to tie the sash, rather than just the one hand seen in the present work. The prominent column, upon which Goring rests, is also absent in the finished picture, replaced by a dark green silk curtain, drawn three quarters of the way across the picture, with the hint of a distant landscape beyond. 

These numerous differences, as well as the rapid nature of the work, all suggest this to be a sketch from the early stages of the commission, possibly the artist's first thought for the composition, and as such it is a fascinating insight into the artist's working method. The practice of making small preparatory sketches, as a means of roughing out his ideas for a composition, possibly in order to convey those ideas to a client, is one that he would have learned in Rubens's studio. Indeed the technique used in this sketch, which is strikingly similar to parts of van Dyck's preparatory study for Charles I and the Knights of the Garter in Procession (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, fig. 2), particularly the distinctive dark eyes, with the structural elements drawn in broad areas of very thin paint in the texture of watercolour, and the figures delineated in varying shades of brown, heightened with fluent touches of white,¹ is consistent with the technique practised by Rubens prior to the 1620s, when van Dyck was working in his studio. As Held has observed it is precisely this technique which can be found in the former artist's sketches for the thirty-nine paintings which he executed for the ceiling, side aisles and galleries of the Jesuit Church in Antwerp, which can also be found in his preparatory work for the Medici cycle; namely small grisaille sketches, executed in a virtuoso shorthand technique, essentially employing lead white over a light brown priming, with the application of a few darker lines to clarify the form.² Unlike Rubens however, examples of van Dyck's sketches are very rare, with only a small number of extant works known to exist. One such picture is a study for the group portrait of Charles I and his family (Royal Collection), which appeared on the market recently, whilst his best known example is the Garter Procession sketch in the Ashmolean.

1. See O. Millar, et al. Van Dyck, A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven and London 2004,p. 476.
2. See J. S. Held, The Oil Sketches of  Peter Paul Rubens, vol. I, New Jersey 1980, p.4.