Master Paintings and Drawings
Master Paintings and Drawings
Circle of the Master of the Countess of Warwick
Portrait of a gentleman, bust length, wearing a fitted jacket, a ruff, a feathered cap, and a blue ribbon around his neck
Lot Closed
March 23, 02:01 PM GMT
Estimate
7,000 - 9,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Circle of the Master of the Countess of Warwick
Portrait of a gentleman, bust length, wearing a fitted jacket, a ruff, a feathered cap, and a blue ribbon around his neck
oil on panel, unframed
panel: 16 by 12 ¼ in.; 40.6 by 31.1 cm.
The Master of the Countess of Warwick was active in England in the second half of the sixteenth century. This master's eponymous work is the Portrait of Ann Russell, Countess of Warwick, today at Woburn Abbey. While the young sitter's identity has yet to be revealed, he bears some resemblance to Henry Stuart (1545-1567), Lord Darnley, whose likeness is recorded in an anonymous portrait in the Glasgow Museums.1 His long, angular features, however, come closer to those of the poet, Sir Philip Sidney, as seen in an anonymous portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, though the profile of their noses differ.2 If the sitter was English, then the badge held by the blue ribbon would have been the Order of the Garter; if Scottish, the badge would have been the Order of the Thistle.
1. Inv. no. PL.1927.248. Oil on panel, 38.4 by 27.7 cm.
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/henry-stuart-15451567-lord-darnley-86537
2. Inv. no. NPG 5732, oil on panel, 113.9 by 84 cm. https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw07877/Sir-Philip-Sidney