English School, 16th Century

Possibly Sir Richard Broke (d. 1529), Chief Baron of the Exchequer;
James St. Vincent, 4th Lord de Saumarez who married on 18th October 1882, Jane Anne, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Captain Charles Acton Broke of Livermere Park, Suffolk;
Thence by descent in the Saumarez family, Guernsey, until sold ("Anonymous sale"), London, Sotheby's, 13 November 1996, lot 15, for £55,000.

The painting is slightly darker in tone and the modelling more apparent than the catalogue illustration would suggest. The canvas has been relined and the paint surface appears to be in remarkably good condition given the picture's age. There are no areas of apparent damage or loss of paint visible to the naked eye however there is evidence of now stabilized areas of flaking in the sitter's left shoulder. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals several old campaigns of cosmetic retouching throughout the background, most noticeably to the ight hand side, where there appear to be two areas of retouching to old damages. There is also minor scattered retouching throughout the face, hat and body, as well as in the hands. Offered in a painted black and gold wood frame in good overall condition.
"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."

This picture shares a number of formal qualities with the portrait of the King by an unknown Flemish artist in the National Portrait Gallery, London which was made for his proposed marriage to Margaret, Duchess of Saxony ¹. Both pictures adopt the compositional device of placing the sitter obliquely to the picture plane and both pay considerable attention to the hands as symbols of power, the rings and chains being the outward trappings of Monarchy. These features can also be seen in the famous portrait of Richard III in the Royal Collection and in the portrait of Henry VIII, painted around the year of his father’s death in 1509 (sold in these Rooms, 10 July 1996, lot 9). Thus this form of official portraiture can be seen to span three reigns, demonstrating a strong iconographic continuity between the Yorkist and Tudor monarchies.

Unlike earlier portraits of Richard III however, the central iconographic focus here, as in the other examples mentioned above, is the attention paid to the Tudor Rose that the King holds in his hands. Whereas in the case of the National Portrait Gallery example the rose is presented as a symbol of his life’s achievement to a prospective bride, here the function of the work is different. It was intended as a symbol of allegiance to the Tudor dynasty as a whole, having possibly been commissioned directly by Sir Richard Broke (d. 1529) who was Chief Baron of the Exchequer.

There are several images of Henry when an older man, painted after the death of his wife. They include this work, the National Portrait Gallery picture and another belonging to the Society of Antiquaries in London, all of these represent the King in later life, as a sophisticated statesman.

1. See G.Glück, Burlington Magazine, LXII, September 1933.