drawing
- Museum number
- 1874,0808.138
- Description
-
Portrait study of Lord Francis Villiers, study for a painting; whole-length, standing to front, the head turned slightly to left, right hand on breast and left hand on hip. c.1635
Black chalk, heightened with white, on grey-brown paper
Verso: Two half-length studies for portraits of ladies; one with arms folded in front
Black chalk, heightened with white, on grey-brown paper
- Production date
- 1635 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 475 millimetres
-
Width: 281 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- The recto of this sheet features a study of Francis Villliers in Van Dyck's typically free handling of the black chalk. It was preparatory to the double portrait of the young lord and his brother George, 2nd Duke of Buckingham that Van Dyck completed in 1635 and is in the Royal Collection, Windsor (inv. no. RCIN404441). It was commissioned by King Charles I as he raised the two boys as his own following the murder of their father.
The verso of the sheet presumably dates to the same year. It comprises two separate studies of a female's folded arms but has not been conclusively linked to a known portrait.
Lit: H. Vey, ‘Die Zeichnungen Anton van Dycks, Brussels 1962, no.230; P. Rumberg, ‘Charles I: King and Collector’, exhibition catalogue, London, Royal Academy of Arts, no. 69 (for the painting).
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1874
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1874,0808.138
