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The Duke of Buckingham and his Family

1 of 8 portraits of Katherine Villiers (née Manners, later MacDonnell), Duchess of Buckingham

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© National Portrait Gallery, London

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The Duke of Buckingham and his Family

after Gerrit van Honthorst
oil on canvas, circa 1628, based on a work of 1628
57 1/4 in. x 78 in. (1454 mm x 1981 mm) overall
Purchased, 1884
Primary Collection
NPG 711

Sittersback to top

Artistback to top

  • Gerrit van Honthorst (1590-1656), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 51 portraits, Sitter in 5 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Buckingham used much of his wealth to amass a substantial collection of art and natural rarities, and to patronise the most successful foreign artists of his day. This family portrait is a good, early copy of a painting by Honthorst of 1628, still in the Royal Collection. A second son was born after Buckingham's death.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • MacLeod, Catherine, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery Collection at Montacute House, 1999, p. 35
  • Piper, David, Catalogue of Seventeenth Century Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery, 1625-1714, 1963, p. 40
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 706

Events of 1628back to top

Current affairs

John Felton, a professional soldier, assassinates George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.
Lawyer and politician, Sir Edward Coke, leads the demand for a Petition of Right which sets out specific civil liberties while curbing Royal power. After much debate, it is reluctantly accepted by Charles I and passed in Parliament.

Art and science

Aged ten, poet Abraham Cowley writes his epic romance, Pyramus and Thisbe; it would appear in his first publication, Poetical blossoms, 1633, a collection of five poems.
Charles I purchases a substantial art collection from the Duke of Mantua, initially overseen by diplomat, Sir Isaac Wake.

International

The Huguenots surrender in La Rochelle to Catholic royalist forces. Attempts are made by England to assist the city; a final, unsuccessful expedition is dispatched by Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsey, now head of the fleet since the death of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.

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