English School, circa 1600

Acquired by the great-grandfather of the present owner;

Thence by descent.

This painting of the artistically minded yet ill-fated King Richard II is very likely to have once formed part of a series of corridor portraits of monarchs commissioned in late Tudor or Jacobean England. Sets of royal portraits, which often spanned from William the Conqueror to the Tudor dynasty, were particular popular in affluent aristocratic houses of the late sixteenth century. Surviving sets which include King Richard's portrait include those in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, in the Marquess of Bath's collection at Longleat, and the Duke of Northumberland's collection at Albury.¹ Another portrait of Richard is in the Deanery at Ripon Cathedral.

This particular likeness of the King ultimately derives from the 1395 portrait of the monarch which survives at Westminster Abbey.² Compared to the other surviving examples completed in the Tudor period, this painting appears to be unique in its inclusion of the King's orb and sceptre, details which appear in the Westminster painting but not in any of the other known corridor portraits.

¹ For a list see R. Strong, Tudor & Jacobean Portraits, London 1969, vol. 1, p. 261.

² Strong 1969, vol. 1, p. 261, no. 1.