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Portrait of a Senator
Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641)
about 1627
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
119.1 × 100 cm (46 7/8 × 39 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Promised gift of Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art
Accession NumberL-R 86.2021
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Although we do not know this man’s name, the picture’s place within the chronology of Van Dyck’s career seems clear. The artist painted it soon after returning to his native Antwerp in the summer of 1627, following years in Italy. The portrait owes much to the 16th-century Venetian painter Titian, whose pictures Van Dyck studied on his sojourn. Deep, luxurious blacks applied with broad, unblended brushstrokes and the apparent nonchalance and relaxed grace of the sitter are both reminiscent of Titian’s style.
Provenance18th century, William Bentinck (b. 1709 - d. 1762), 2nd Duke of Portland, Bulstrode Park, Buckinghamshire [see note 1]; to his son, William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (b. 1738 - d. 1809), 3rd Duke of Portland, Bulstrode Park; to his son, William Henry Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck (b. 1768 - d. 1854), 4th Duke of Portland, Welbeck Abbey, Norfolk [see note 2]; to his son, William John Cavendish-Bentinck (b. 1800 – d. 1879), 5th Duke of Portland, Welbeck Abbey and Harcourt House, London [see note 3]; by descent within the family; December 7, 2010, anonymous ("Property from a Portland Collection"), Christie's, London, lot 18. September 2011, sold by Mould and Co., London, to Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, Boston.
NOTES:
[1] He may have inherited the painting from his father, Henry Bentinck (b. 1682 - d. 1726), 1st Duke of Portland. William Bentinck’s tutor, John Achard, made note of the paintings at Bulstrode Park while he was living and working there between 1724 and his death in 1770. According to Richard W. Goulding, Catalogue of the Pictures Belonging to his Grace the Duke of Portland, K.G. (Cambridge, 1936), p. 33, cat. no. 92, Achard listed “a portrait of a Senator of Antwerp, half length, black hair, a plain band, in a Black flower velvet cloak, by Vandike.”
[2] In 1810, William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck sold Bulstrode Park and moved his collection to Welbeck Abbey. G. F. Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain (London, 1857), p. 514, notes “An Antwerp Senator” in the Duke of Portland collection, Welbeck Abbey, which he visited in 1854 or 1856.
[3] According to C. Fairfax Murray, Catalogue of the Pictures belonging to His Grace the Duke of Portland, at Welbeck Abbey, and in London (London, 1894), p. 25, cat. no. 92, this painting was in the Red Drawing Room at Welbeck Abbey.
NOTES:
[1] He may have inherited the painting from his father, Henry Bentinck (b. 1682 - d. 1726), 1st Duke of Portland. William Bentinck’s tutor, John Achard, made note of the paintings at Bulstrode Park while he was living and working there between 1724 and his death in 1770. According to Richard W. Goulding, Catalogue of the Pictures Belonging to his Grace the Duke of Portland, K.G. (Cambridge, 1936), p. 33, cat. no. 92, Achard listed “a portrait of a Senator of Antwerp, half length, black hair, a plain band, in a Black flower velvet cloak, by Vandike.”
[2] In 1810, William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck sold Bulstrode Park and moved his collection to Welbeck Abbey. G. F. Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain (London, 1857), p. 514, notes “An Antwerp Senator” in the Duke of Portland collection, Welbeck Abbey, which he visited in 1854 or 1856.
[3] According to C. Fairfax Murray, Catalogue of the Pictures belonging to His Grace the Duke of Portland, at Welbeck Abbey, and in London (London, 1894), p. 25, cat. no. 92, this painting was in the Red Drawing Room at Welbeck Abbey.