Queen Henrietta Maria

Henrietta Maria (1609–1669), the queen consort of Charles I of England, was born in the Louvre and was named after both of her parents, Henry IV of France (1553–1610) and Marie de’ Medici (1573–1642). At the age of fifteen she was married to the king of England. Their first years together were unhappy, because the Duke of Buckingham, a favorite of the king, did all within his power to generate distrust of the young and inexperienced queen, a practicing Roman Catholic who spoke little English. After the assassination of Buckingham in 1628, the king seems genuinely to have fallen in love with his young bride. She bore him nine children, some of whom were to be the subjects of Van Dyck’s most beguiling group portraits.

In this portrait Henrietta Maria is a woman of twenty-seven, expecting the birth of her sixth child, Princess Anne, born March 17, 1637. As the Civil War approached, she threw herself into English politics, seeking foreign aid to overthrow the Parliamentarians. In 1642 she sailed to Amsterdam and pawned a great part of the English crown jewels. Returning to England with munitions, she was nicknamed "La Generalissima" because of the military schemes she urged upon her mild-tempered husband. When the Royalist position became hopeless, she fled to France. She was living in the Louvre when she received word that her husband had been beheaded at Whitehall on January 30, 1649.

A devout Catholic, Henrietta Maria spent her remaining years trying to convert her children to the Church of Rome and arranging advantageous marriages for them. After the Restoration in 1660, she returned to England for a brief period, taking up residence there in 1662. Three years later she left London for the last time and retired to her château at Colombes, near Paris.

Henrietta Maria was painted by Van Dyck many times. His first portrait of her appears in the "greate peece," the large canvas of the king and queen with their two eldest children (Royal Collection, London), executed shortly after the artist settled in England. On May 7, 1633, he was paid for nine portraits of Charles I and his wife. The queen is said to have given Van Dyck no less than twenty-five sittings, and his account of unpaid bills in 1638–39 lists thirteen portraits of "la Reyne": "dressed in blue, price thirty pounds"; "dressed in white, price fifty pounds"; "for presentation to her sister-in-law, the Queen of Bohemia"; "for pre-sentation to the Ambassador Hopton"; and so forth (see Carola Oman, Henrietta Maria, New York, 1936, p. 81).
These portraits do not represent fresh and original essays. Most of them probably were repetitions—made by assistants to satisfy the demand for likenesses of her from family and friends—of one or another of the five basic formats the artist had devised for the queen. The existing portraits thus can be classified according to their prototypes, most of them established early in Van Dyck’s time in London: the three-quarter-length in white, originally placed in the King’s Bedchamber at Whitehall and now at Windsor; the three-quarter-length in the collection of the Earl of Radnor at Longford Castle (Wiltshire); the three-quarter-length in blue, of which the autograph version is not at present known; the full-length in state robes in the Schlossmuseum, Oranienburg; and the full-length in a hunting costume with her dwarf, Sir Geoffrey Hudson, in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

For the Wrightsman picture, Van Dyck used the same format he had invented four years earlier for the Radnor portrait, showing the queen standing slightly in front of the imperial crown, with her hands held one above the other at her waist. While the poses are the same, the plain background, the saffron yellow dress with its broad white lace cuffs and collar, the coiffure, and the queen’s engaging expression mark it as a new creation. A completely autograph work, it displays all the evidence of the master’s brushwork, including conspicuous alterations that only he would have made, such as the large pentimento running down the side of the queen’s left sleeve (originally the sleeve was about an inch wider). Similarly, the collar on her left shoulder was lowered, and there are slight changes in the outline of her right sleeve. A copyist would not have reproduced these changes, as they became noticeable only long after the portrait was completed and the underpainting gradually became visible with age. Further evidence that this is a primary version can be seen in the way the artist applied the background color. When the queen gave her first sitting, he merely laid in the paint immediately around her head. Then, at a later stage, he filled in the rest of the background but did not quite match the color, so that the first patch is somewhat darker, resembling an opaque halo around the head. Another feature indicating Van Dyck’s own work is the incomplete preparation of the canvas: a margin roughly three inches wide on all four sides of the canvas is unprimed. A painter setting out to copy the composition would have prepared the entire canvas at once, whereas Van Dyck, being uncertain of the ultimate dimensions of the picture, filled in these margins after he had completed the figure.

The present portrait was executed in 1636 as a gift for Francesco Barberini (1597–1679). As Cardinal Protector of England and Scotland, he sought to improve relations between Charles I and the Church of Rome. Knowing of the king’s voracious appetite for collecting art, the cardinal sent a large group of Italian pictures to the queen; they reached England in 1636 and gave much pleasure to the royal family. In December of the same year, George Con, a papal agent to the court of Saint James’s and the queen’s personal confessor, reported to Cardinal Barberini, "The Queen has not yet wanted me to present her the letter of Your Eminence, because having been apprised of its contents and knowing that I would ask Her Majesty for permission to take leave from her, she is delaying until her portrait is finished."

As Oliver Millar first observed, the portrait mentioned by Con is probably The Met’s painting, which may well have been intended as a token of appreciation. The year after Cardinal Barberini’s pictures arrived in England, Henrietta Maria prepared a display of them in her chapel at Somerset House, and the following year she entrusted him with the responsibility of commissioning from Guido Reni a large painting for the ceiling of the bedroom of her house at Greenwich. Cardinal Barberini had also arranged for Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) to carve a bust of Charles I, which, unfortunately, was lost in the fire that destroyed Whitehall Palace in 1698. Henrietta Maria admired it so much that she solicited through the cardinal "her own portrait" by Bernini, for which Van Dyck painted his last portraits of her, a frontal view and two profiles, to serve as guides for the sculptor.

[2016; adapted from Fahy 2005]

Cardinal Francesco Barberini, Rome (1637–d. 1679; inv., 1649, as "Un quadro con cornice d'albuccio intagliata e tutta dorata mezza figura in tela la Regina d'Inghilterra alto palmi quattro e mezzo e largo pmi quattro"); principessa Olimpia Giustiniani Barberini (inv., 1730, no. 933); Barberini family (invs., 1812, no. 135; 1817, no. 14; 1844, no. 148); principe Tommaso Corsini, Florence (1934–68); [Colnaghi, London, 1968–69; sold to Wrightsman]; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, New York (1969–his d. 1986); Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, New York (1986–d. 2019; cat., 2005, no. 35)

London. Tate Gallery. "The Age of Charles I: Painting in England, 1620–1649," November 15, 1972–January 14, 1973, no. 88.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Bellini to Tiepolo: Summer Loans at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 29–August 31, 1993, unnum. checklist.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Making The Met, 1870–2020," August 29, 2020–January 3, 2021, unnumbered cat. (fig. 91).

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT, BY TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.

Filippo Mariotti. La legislazione delle belle arti. Rome, 1892, p. 127.

Leo van Puyvelde. La Peinture flamande à Rome. Brussels, 1950, p. 174, pl. 78.

Oliver Millar. "Notes on Three Pictures by Van Dyck." Burlington Magazine 111 (July 1969), pp. 417–18, fig. 1.

Gregory Martin. "'The Age of Charles I' at the Tate." Burlington Magazine 115 (January 1973), p. 59.

Everett Fahy in The Wrightsman Pictures. Ed. Everett Fahy. New York, 2005, pp. 123–27, no. 35, ill. (color).

Erin Griffey. On Display: Henrietta Maria and the Materials of Magnificence at the Stuart Court. London, 2015, p. 135, fig. 66 (color).

Old Masters: Day Sale. Christie's, London. July 7, 2017, p. 24, under no. 165.

Per Rumberg and Desmond Shawe-Taylor in Charles I: King and Collector. Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts. London, 2018, fig. 6 (color).

Old Masters Day Sale. Christie's, London. July 6, 2018, p. 119, under no. 197.

Robin Pogrebin. "The Met is Given Hundreds of Artworks." New York Times (November 16, 2019), p. C3, ill. [online ed., "A Trustee Leaves Trove of Old Masters Works to the Met," November 13, 2019, ill. (color); https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/arts/design/bequest-met-museum-wrightsman.html].

Nancy Kenney. "Jayne Wrightsman Leaves Over 375 Works of Art and $80m to The Met." Art Newspaper. November 13, 2019, ill. (color) [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/jayne-wrightsman-leaves-over-375-works-of-art-to-the-met].

Hakim Bishara. "A Glorious Gift of European Artworks Is on Display at the Metropolitan Museum." Hyperallergic. November 19, 2019 [https://hyperallergic.com/528444/a-glorious-gift-of-european-artworks-is-on-display-at-the-metropolitan-museum/].

The Private Collection of Jayne Wrightsman. Christie's, New York. October 14, 2020, p. 29.

"Works in the Exhibition." Making The Met, 1870–2020. Ed. Andrea Bayer and Laura D. Corey. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2020, p. 248.

Andrea Bayer, Barbara Drake Boehm, and Daniëlle O. Kisluk-Grosheide. "Princely Aspirations." Making The Met, 1870–2020. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2020, p. 87, fig. 91 (color).

Adam Eaker in "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 2018–20, Part I: Antiquity to the Late Eighteenth Century." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 78 (Winter 2021), p. 29, ill. p. 28 (color).

With the exception of the Romanelli painted for Cardinal Antonio Barberini, the following copies presumably were based on a replica that remained in England:

Amsterdam, Christie’s, October 13, 1998, no. 22 (property of Baron van Zuylen). Oil on canvas, 42 1⁄8 × 33 7⁄8 in. (107 × 86 cm).
Arundel Castle (Sussex), Duke of Norfolk.
Devon (Pennsylvania), Clifford H. Harding (his estate, Sotheby’s, New York, October 14, 1992, no. 234; ex-collections William K. Vanderbilt, Paris; H. S. Keesing). Oil on canvas, 50 × 41 in. (127 × 104 cm).
Dunrobin Castle, Golspie, Sutherland (Scotland), Countess of Sutherland. Oil on canvas, 43 × 33 in. (109.2 × 83.8 cm).
Eastnor Castle (Herefordshire), James Hervey Bathurst.
Eureka Springs (Arkansas), private collection.
Hampden House, Earl of Buckinghamshire (in 1898); Miss Z. Newman (Sotheby Parke Bernet, London, July 7, 1982, no. 21). Oil on canvas, 84 × 48 in. (213.4 × 121.9 cm). Based on the Warwick Castle version.
Hinton Saint George, Earl Poulett (before 1882).
Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny (Ireland). Based on the Warwick Castle version; attributed to James Gandy.
London, National Portrait Gallery (227). Oil on canvas, 43 × 32 1⁄2 in. (109.2 × 82.6 cm).
London, Christie’s, December 10, 1971, no. 83 (property of the Rt. Hon. the Lord Margadale of Islay). Oil on canvas, 41 × 31 in (104.1 × 78.7 cm).
London, Sotheby’s, April 4, 1962, no. 86. Oil on canvas, 26 1⁄2 × 22 in. (67.3 × 55.9 cm).
London, Sotheby’s, November 12, 1997, no. 37. Oil on canvas, 41 1⁄2 × 33 in. (105.4 × 83.8 cm).
Louisville (Kentucky), private collection “from South America via Miami” (in 1974). Oil on canvas, 29 3⁄4 × 23 1⁄2 in. (75.6 × 59.7 cm).
Melbourne (Derbyshire), Lt. Col. Sir Howard Kerr. Oil on canvas, 34 × 
27 1⁄2 in. (86.4 × 69.9 cm).
Melbury House (Dorset), Earl of Ilchester.
New York, Christie’s, October 12, 1989, no. 157 (ex-collection Sir Lewes T. L. Pryse). Oil on canvas, 29 × 24 1⁄2 in. (73.6 × 62.2 cm).
Northwick Park (Oxfordshire), Capt. E. G. Spencer Churchill (Christie’s, London, June 19, 1959, no. 6; Christie’s, November 14–15, 1974, no. 296). Oil on canvas, 27 1⁄2 × 21 in. (69.9 × 53.3 cm).
Oxford, Saint John’s College.
Paris, Pereire collection, sale chez M. Charles Pillet, March 6–9, 1872, no. 119. Oil on canvas, 39 3⁄8 × 32 5⁄8 in. (100 × 83 cm).
Rome, Cardinal Francesco Barberini’s brother, Cardinal Antonio Barberini, Rome (in 1639). By Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (ca. 1610–1662).
Rome, Vito Memeli (in 1970). Oil on canvas, 39 3⁄8 × 29 1⁄2 in. (100 × 75 cm).
Vaduz, the Principality of Liechtenstein. Oil on canvas, 38 3⁄4 × 32 1⁄8 in. (98.5 × 81.5 cm).
Warwick Castle (Warwickshire), the Tussaud’s Group. Oil on canvas, 50 × 32 in. (127 × 81.3 cm), later enlarged to 88 × 51 1⁄2 in. (223.6 × 130.8 cm).
Whereabouts unknown, Mrs. Randolph. Part of a double portrait with Charles I. Photograph in Witt Library, London.
Wilton House (Salisbury), Earl of Pembroke.

Miniatures
Boughton (Northamptonshire), Duke of Buccleuch.
London, The Royal Collection (RCIN 421746). Enamel, oval, 1 1⁄2 × 1 1⁄4 in. 
(3.8 × 3.2 cm). Style of Jean Petitot (1607–1691).

Etching
Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–1677). Plate, 6 1⁄8 × 4 5⁄8 in. (15.6 × 11.9 cm). Inscribed: Ant: van dyck pinxit, W. Hollar fecit / 1641.2

This work may not be lent, by terms of its acquisition by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.