Jennifer Scott, Curator, Royal Collection

Met Jennifer at a talk at the Queen's Gallery yesterday. Noticed she has just published her first independent book, on Royal Portraiture. This may be of great interest as it focuses on images in the Royal Collection that may not see the light of day too often.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Portrait-Image-Impact/dp/1905686137

A fresh assessment of the importance of portraiture in the image-making of monarchs from Richard II to the present day This book covers a far wider timescale than any previous studies of the subject, and is the first to focus on royal portraiture from within the Royal Collection.

She's talking about her book on 21 June at Millais House in South Ken (ArtFund HQ) - tickets £14

http://www.artfund.org/whatson/events.html

Eyckian Portraits of Englishmen (?)

Came across the portrait of 15thC Lancastrian diplomat Edward Grimston by Petrus Christus (dated 1446) yesterday at the National.... I'd never noticed this before! It's actually the property of the Earl of Verulam, Grimston's distant ancestor, but has been on loan to the NG since 1927.

I haven't rooted around much on the identification of its sitter, or provenance - Lorne Campbell's catalogue refers the reader in a note to articles by A.W.Franks and G.Scharf in vol.40 (1866) of Archaeologica - but what is unmistakable are the Lancastrian links the sitter is fondling. Whatever is known, its seems a firm enough identification... the ODNB entry for Grimston makes much of the fact that this is the earliest recorded portrait of a non-royal Englishman, barring the (debatable) case of Cardinal Henry Beaufort by van Eyck that is in Vienna.

Having just read up on that (Hunter, 1993, Art Bulletin), it seems that attribution is far from accepted: general opinion still seems to hold that this is a portrait by the Papal nuncio Cardinal Nicolo Albergati, whereas the writer doubts whether the sitter is Albergati based on his appearance, or indeed a cardinal at all on the basis of his costume... which of course also rules out Beaufort. Once again, we have a 15thC Northern work that lacks a consensus of opinion!

Obviously, there is reams of literature of Beaufort, one of the chief powers in the land throughout the reins of Henry IV, Henry VI, the infancy of Henry VI and that king's "Dual Monarchy" of England and France. As one of the wealthiest of all prelates, he was and is seen as as precursor to Cardinal Wolsey.

As for Grimston, there is understandably less to go on, but he does merit a page or so in the ODNB. I'll have to see if I can obtain that 1866 issue of Archaeologica.....

V&A Italian Cast Courts (2)

Also, something I didn't expect to see in the Italian Cast Court is a copy of Cardinal Wolsey's arms from Hampton Court. These were made in terracotta in Florence, possibly by a Lorenzo Giuntini in 1525 and installed by the Cardinal at his home in the Clock Court. They were covered over - but never removed - by Henry VIII after his requisition of the palace, and subsequently found during a 19th century restoration.

For more on the re-discovery, need to download the Gentleman's Magazine vol 24 from 1830-something.

Henry's arms are the ones presumably still there... I'm ashamed to say I can't remember! Need to look under the astronomical clock next time I'm there.

V&A Cast Courts - Italian Room open again

Good news in that the Italian Room at the V&A is open once more after having had a spruce-up. Could prove to be a great substitute resource if I choose to focus on a classic example of Renaissance sculpture/architectural sculpture.

Many of "the classics" are there, to wit:

• Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise
• Michelangelo's David & Medici Mausoleum sculptures (Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino & Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours, by 1534)
• Donatello's David / Cavalcanti Annunciation / Duomo Cantoria (arranged for comparison adjacent to that of Luca della Robbia)
• Mino di Fiesole's Bust of Piero the Gouty

Carlo Marsuppini's Santa Croce tomb by Desiderio da Settignano (1453-60) really caught my eye.

It is a visually jaw-dropping source of humanist iconographic and decorative imagery, and the cast is beautifully done. It is placed adjacent to the Santa Maria del Popolo tomb of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza by Andrea Sansovino (1505-9) which to my mind is a prime example of the influence of Nero's recently rediscovered Golden House in its grotesque work. Third in line, and not to be overlooked is the (far smaller) tomb of Tuscan lawyer/lecturer Filippo Decio (d.1534) from Campo Santo by the Pisan Stagio Stagi, demonstrating how this style filtered down and developed over the next generation.

A project comparing and contrasting these would be great fun; alternatively, the Sforza (and Decio) tombs could be used as a control for the Layer Marney sarcophagi and canopies mentioned a while back. I can see these replicas whenever I want FOC and in a quiet, brightly-lit environment with the National Art Library on-site. Would still more than justify a trip to Florence and/or Rome though!