Brothers, pendant - nine pairs of fraternal portraits

 

Jean-François, comte d'Entremont et de Montbel, by Louis Ferdinand Elle l'Aîné, 1658.

Elie-Louis d'Entremont, marquis du Monteiller, by Louis Ferdinand Elle l'Aîné, 1658.

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Prince Henry Benedict Clement Stuart (1725-1807), by Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1737.

Prince Charles Edward Stuart "Bonnie Prince Charlie" (1720-1788), by Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1737.

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A posthumous portrait of Saxon elector Friedrich III "the Wise" (1463-1525), by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1533.

A posthumous portrait of Saxon elector Johann I "the Constant" (1468-1532), by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1533.

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Michael Damien Farrow (1939-1958), by Eileen Chandler, 1949. The boys were the children of director John Farrow and actress Maureen O'Sullivan.

Patrick Villiers Farrow (1942-2009), by Eileen Chandler, 1949.

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Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset (1589-1624), by William Larkin, 1613.

Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset (1591-1652), by William Larkin, 1613.

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Aaron Kingsbury Drury (1813-1859) and Elijah Drury (1817-1864), unknown artist, circa 1840s. It isn't known which portrait is of which brother.

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 James Stapleton, 2nd Baronet Stapleton of the Leeward Islands (1672-1690), at the age of eleven, Circle of Mary Beale, circa 1683.

 William Stapleton, 3rd Baronet Stapleton of the Leeward Islands (1674-1699), at the age of eight, Circle of Mary Beale, circa 1683.

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Arnoldus van Rijneveld (1715-98), by Louis Tocqué, 1738.

Isaac van Rijneveld (1706-92), by Louis Tocqué, 1738.

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John Helias Finnie McEwen, later 1st Baronet McEwen of Marchmont & Bardrochat (1894-1962), by Philip de László, 1915.

Lieutenant James Robert Dundas McEwen (1896-1916), by Philip de László, 1915. He was killed in action at the Battle of the Somme only a year later.

Conspicuous display - ten full-length portraits by William Larkin

Traditionally called Dorothy Cary, later Viscountess Rochford, but now thought to be Elizabeth Cary, née Tanfield, Viscountess Falkland, circa 1614-18.

Catherine Lyte Howard, second wife of Sir Thomas Thynne, 1618.

Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, 1613.

Catherine Howard, née Knyvett, 1st Countess of Suffolk, circa 1614-18.

Diana Cecil, later Countess of Oxford, circa 1614-18.

Susan Feilding, née Villiers, Countess of Denbigh, circa 1616.

 Lucy Russell, née Harington, Countess of Bedford, circa 1610s.

Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset, 1613.

 Isabel Rogers, née Rich, later Lady Smythe, circa 1614-18.

Mary, Lady Vere, née Tracy, formerly Mrs. Hoby, circa 1615.

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William Larkin (circa 1580s, London – April or May 1619, London), English painter known for his iconic portraits of members of the court of James I of England, paintings which capture in brilliant detail the opulent finery worn by the aristocracy during the Jacobean era. Born in London in the early 1580s and active from 1609 until his death in 1619, little is known of his life. And although he was recorded as a portrait painter in contemporary documents, no surviving works were attributed to him until the 1950s. Since then, about forty portraits have been identified as being by his hand (and his studio.)

The Favourite - portraits of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

Portrait by Michiel van Mierevelt, circa 1625.

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, (28 August 1592, Brooksby, Leicestershire – 23 August 1628, Portsmouth, Hampshire), English courtier, statesman, patron of the arts, he was the last and greatest favourite - and very possibly also the lover - of King James I of England. Born the son of a minor aristocrat, he was later groomed by his widowed mother for a life at court. Well trained in all the "manly arts", he was also charming and strikingly handsome. In 1614, at the age of twenty-one, placed in the right place at the right time, he first caught the eye of the King. He began to appear in court masques the following year, the perfect setting to display his fine figure and his grace as a dancer.

Attributed to William Larkin and his studio, circa 1616.

With James' favor, he quickly moved up the ranks of the nobility; he was knighted and made a Gentleman of the Bedchamber that same year. A year later, 1616, appointed King's Master of the Horse, he was elevated to the peerage, created Baron Whaddon and Viscount Villiers, and made a Knight of the Garter. The following year, he was made Earl and the next year Marquess of Buckingham. Finally, in 1623, his title was further promoted and he became the Duke of Buckingham. 

After Daniel Mytens, circa 1620s.

Paul van Somer, circa before 1621.

Studio of Daniel Mytens, circa 1620s.

Daniel Dumonstier, 1625.

Studio of Daniel Mytens, circa 1620s.

His new rank allowed him great proximity to the Royal Family, and he developed a close friendship with James' heir, the future Charles I. In 1620 he married Lady Katherine Manners, a daughter of the 6th Earl of Rutland. They had four children - the last born posthumously - three of whom achieved majority.

"Venus and Adonis", an allegorical portrait of Buckingham and his wife, by Anthony van Dyck, circa 1620.

With his wife and their children Mary and George - later 2nd Duke of Buckingham - after Gerrit van Honthorst, circa 1628.

Detail of above.

Studio of Gerrit van Honthorst, circa 1628.

Miniature by John Hoskins, after Honthorst, circa 1628-29.

Like many royal favourites, before and since, he was given many privileges and responsibilities for which he was quite unsuited. He was a great patron of the arts though, frankly, much of the work he commissioned was designed for his self-aggrandizement. But as Lord Admiral and as - in effect if not title - foreign minister, his career was a series of diplomatic and military blunders. Despite his record of incompetency, he remained at the height of royal favor, a position which, after James' death in 1625, would continue for the first three years of Charles' reign. 

Peter Paul Rubens, circa 1625.

Peter Paul Rubens, circa 1625.

Sketch for an equestrian portrait - since destroyed - by Peter Paul Rubens, 1625.

"Apollo and Diana" or "The Liberal Arts Presented to King Charles and Queen Henrietta Maria", by Gerrit van Honthorst, 1628.

The King and Queen, together on their cloud, represent Apollo and his sister Diana, while Buckingham appears below as Mercury.

But the public and Parliament loathed his influence and had long since turned against him, a sentiment and situation echoed in so many other instances throughout the history of kings and favourites. And he was assassinated by an army officer, John Felton, in 1628. Felton was later hanged, the public display of his corpse becoming an object of veneration by an approving public, while Buckingham was buried in a lavish tomb in Westminster Abbey. He had died at the age of thirty-five.

Katherine Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham with Lady Mary Villiers, later Duchess of Lennox and Duchess of Richmond, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of
Buckingham, and Lord Francis Villiers, studio of van Dyck, circa 1633. The late Duke is depicted both in a portrait and in the miniature that the Duchess holds.

After Daniel Mytens, circa 1620s or after.