A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



Holbein at Whitehall, destroyed by the fire in 

 1698. There are several portraits of Queen 

 Elizabeth, notably one in fancy dress, said to be 

 by Zucchero (no. 309) ;' a startling allegorical 

 picture of the queen with Minerva, Juno, and 

 Venus by De Heere (no. 250), and two very 

 characteristic portraits in all her glory of jewelled 

 headdress, lace ruff, and wonderful strings of pearls ; 

 one is said to be by Zucchero (no. 320), and one by 

 Mark Gerrard (no. 619),' which represents her as 

 an old woman, and is said to be her last portrait. 

 There are also some comparatively inferior por- 

 traits of the statesmen of her reign, Walsingham, 

 Leicester, Sir Nicholas Bacon, and Charles Howard, 

 Earl of Nottingham. James I did not add much 

 to the glory of the royal picture gallery ; there is 

 a portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, a copy by 

 Mytens, and one or two of James himself and 

 of Queen Anne of Denmark ; two are by Van- 

 somer (no. 515 and no. 521). There is also 

 a fine portrait of the first Duke of Buckingham, 

 by Janssen (no. 57). Charles I attempted to 

 form a collection which could worthily be called 

 'royal.' The greater number of pictures at 

 Hampton Court, including the best Italian ex- 

 amples, are from his 'gallery,' though many were 

 scattered and lost during the Commonwealth. 

 The equestrian portrait of Charles himself (no. 85) 

 is probably from Vandyck's studio, and is a copy 

 of the famous picture at Windsor. The only 

 genuine work by Vandyck is a portrait of Mrs. 

 Lemon (no. 317); and the only example of 

 Rubens is a ' Diana and her Nymphs Reposing after 

 the Chase,' in which the animals and background 

 were painted by Snyders. 



In 1628 Charles acquired the famous gallery of 

 the Dukes of Mantua, including Mantegna's nine 

 great cartoons, which form the most valuable part 

 of the Hampton Court collection, and hang in the 

 ' Communication Gallery ' (or Mantegna Gallery) 

 on the west side of the Fountain Court. They 

 were painted (on twilled linen in tempera) by 

 Mantegna for Ludovico Gonzago, Duke of 

 Mantua, begun in 1486 and finished in 1492. 

 They are said to have originally decorated a gallery 

 in the duke's Palace of St. Sebastian, Mantua, and 

 have been enthusiastically appreciated by many 

 connoisseurs, 8 but are now much out of repair ; it 

 is said that they were coarsely repainted by 

 Laguerre in the reign of William III. 



It must not be supposed that all the pictures 

 collected by Charles I hung originally at Hampton 

 Court, where the great rooms which now contain 

 some of them had not been built ; they were 

 divided, as the art treasures of the Crown are still 

 divided, among the various dwellings of the sovereign. 

 The king's pictures, sold after his death ' by order 

 of the Parliament,' realized 38,000 ; the sale 

 lasting about five years. From Hampton Court 

 382 pictures were disposed of for nearly 5,000 ; 



among them Mantegna's 'Triumph' was valued 

 at 1,000, but was saved by Cromwell, who 

 also saved the great Raphael cartoons, for which 

 Wren afterwards built a special gallery." A certain 

 number of the pictures were returned to Charles II 

 by the States of Holland, from the collection of 

 Van Reynot, who had purchased them at the 

 sale. 



The portraits of the Restoration period are well- 

 known, and the collection of Lely's ' Beauties,' now 

 in the ' King's State Bedchamber,' is famous. 

 Kneller's portraits of Queen Mary's ladies were 

 painted in emulation of the earlier set, and are 

 more dignified, but far stiffer and less beautiful ; 

 the large allegorical picture of William III landing 

 at Margate in 1697 (no. 29) hangs in 'William 

 the Third's Presence Chamber,' Pope's satirical 

 lines perhaps describe it adequately : 



' And great Nassau, to Kneller's hand decreed, 

 To fix him graceful on the bounding steed.' 



Queen Mary collected about twenty picture* 

 by Baptiste, the well-known flower-painter of his 

 time, and there are also a great many pictures 

 of the German, Flemish, and Dutch schools. The 

 collection of historical portraits by Benjamin West, 

 chiefly of George II, George III and their families, 

 formerly at the palace, 10 has been removed to Ken- 

 sington Palace. 



The paintings of Verrio and Laguerre on ceil- 

 ings and staircases have already been described. 

 Their ' meretricious magnificence ' hardly suits the 

 taste of the present day, but John Evelyn admired 

 the work of Verrio enough to compare it with 

 that of Raphael. The death-blow to his short- 

 lived fame was given by Pope's couplet : 



' On painted ceilings you devoutly stare, 

 Where sprawl the saints of Verrio and Laguerre.' 



Two paintings of the palace hang in the lobby 

 of ' Cardinal Wolsey's Closet ' ; one is a view of 

 the old east front, showing the avenues and canal 

 made by Charles II in 1665, by Danckers ; the 

 other is a drawing of the south front in 15 58, after 

 Wynegaarde. 



The Knights Hospitallers had 'a 

 GARDENS garden and one dove-cote ' belonging 

 to their camera at Hampton. 1 Wolsey 

 surrounded the parks, which then consisted of about 

 2,000 acres, with a red brick buttressed wall, part 

 of which still remains ; ' and the house and gardens 

 with a moat The metrical version of Cavendish's 

 Life of Wolsey gives a pleasant picture of the car- 

 dinal's garden : 



' My gardens sweet enclosed with walles strong 

 Embanked with benches to sytt and take my 



rest. 



The knots so enknotted, it cannot be express! 

 With arbors and alyes so pleasant and so dulce 

 To pestilent ayers with flavors to repulse.' ' 



6 Mr. Law suggests that this is more 

 probably a portrait of Arabella Stuart ; 

 Cat. of Pictures, 65. 



7 Formerly no. 619, it has been re- 

 moved, but apparently not re-num- 

 bered. 



8 See various authorities quoted in 

 Law, op. cit. 275. 



' They are now in the South Ken- 

 sington Museum. 



10 They are included in Law, Royal 

 Gallery of Hampton Court, iSy8. 



380 



1 Larking, The Knights Hospitallers in 

 Engl. (Camden Soc.), ' Report of Prior 

 Philip de Thame, 1338,' p. 117, &c. 



a Law, Hist. Hampton Ct. Palace, i, 21. 



Cavendish, Life of Wohcy (ed. 

 Singer), i, 32, &c. 



