From formal portraits to scenes of peasant life, and still lifes to sea battles, Dutch
and Flemish paintings have been collected by the monarchy for over 500 years.
The stories of how the pictures arrived in the Collection reflect both the personal preferences
of the monarchs who acquired them and the fashionable tastes of their times.
And perhaps the most surprising story of all is how this exquisite painting by Vermeer
came to be a part of it. The earliest monarch famous for collecting
Dutch and Flemish art is Charles I. British monarchs had looked to the Netherlands
to produce artists throughout the 16th century and Charles I really continued that tradition.
The particular qualities of Dutch (or Flemish) art at this date was meticulous realism, especially
for portraiture, and fantastic illusionism, either in perspective views or in still lifes.
Generally speaking at this date, nobody seems to have made a very strict distinction between
Holland and Flanders and Northern and Southern Netherlands. The words Flemish and Dutch seem
to be used quite interchangeably. But everybody made a distinction between Rubens and Van
Dyck on the one hand, and ‘the rest’ on the other hand.
And in the work particularly of Van Dyck, Charles I found somebody who could transform
a portrait into a panegyric, a celebration of the elegance, courage and grandeur of the
king. Rembrandt, by contrast, who was just starting
to make a name for himself, seems to have made little impression on Charles. This portrait,
given to Charles as a gift, was tucked away in an obscure corner while Dutch and Flemish
artists who painted in the more fashionable Italianate style were given pride of place.
After Charles’s death, the entire Royal Collection was to come under threat.
After the execution of Charles I, Cromwell’s Commonwealth administration decided that they
needed to raise money. They’d just come out of a very expensive civil war.
So the Commonwealth decided that they would sell the king’s goods.
People were paid both in the money raised from the sale of the paintings and the furniture,
but they were also given works of art in lieu of debts that they were owed, and so a plumber,
a tradesman might find themselves with a Venetian masterpiece painting.
There were bargains to be had by the discerning collector, particularly of Dutch art, which
was valued much less highly than Italian painting – a Raphael might cost £2,000, while a
Rembrandt could be picked up for just four pounds.
After the Restoration of Charles II, people
who had bought paintings and items of furniture during the Commonwealth sale were expected
to simply return them to the Crown. Some people did this and reacted very quickly
, so Sir Peter Lely for example returned his paintings within the first week, whereas other
people really dragged their feet. Charles issued proclamations demanding the
return of his possessions, (and rewards for information about their whereabouts), but
some of the greatest masterpieces had already been sold abroad.
William of Orange, who came to the throne in 1688, clearly appreciated Dutch art and
sent an outstanding selection of paintings over to Holland to furnish his palace at Het
Loo. As a result, this work by Gerrit Dou of a young mother, once part of the Royal
Collection, remains in the Mauritshuis Gallery in the Hague.
One of the next major contributions to the Collection came in 1762 with George III. He
needed pictures to decorate his recently acquired private residence, Buckingham Palace (or Buckingham
House’, as it was originally called. Dutch art was not a very high priority for
the early Georgian kings. George III made some very, very interesting acquisitions,
but they came as part of a mass purchase, a job lot, in effect, when he acquired the
Consul Smith Collection. This was a collection formed by the British
Consul in Venice, Joseph Smith, mostly of contemporary Venetian painting, but also with
some Dutch Old Masters. And it seems much more likely that he acquired
them for the 50 Canalettos that for the interesting group of Dutch paintings that came with them.
The monarch who completely transformed the Dutch and Flemish holdings of the Royal Collection
was George IV. The French aristocracy had been collecting
Dutch and Flemish art for a century – even decorating Sèvres porcelain with Dutch images
of peasant life. The outbreak of the French Revolution meant these collections were suddenly
up for sale and George IV took full advantage. To some extent it seems a surprise. He bought
these paintings for Carlton House, a fabulously elegant and extravagant interior, decorated
almost entirely with French 18th century furniture. It seems to us odd, that these scenes of taverns,
haymaking and Dutch and Flemish low-life should find a place in this incredibly high-life
setting. What he does seem to have valued and I think
all collectors of Dutch art valued was the light which was introduced into their landscape
paintings so we see in this example by Cuyp, the scene is ordinary but the way I which
the light irradiates the background pouring around the boat and hanging in these glorious
clouds high in the sky almost completely transfigures what otherwise would be an ordinary scene.
The most important Dutch painting in the Collection was acquired by accident. George III acquired
the Consul Smith collection which included a painting then attributed to Frans van Mieris.
Wasn’t particularly admired and was hung at Windsor Castle.
In a way we can see why it was neglected because there is something understated and enigmatic
about the composition, the way the principle figure, the woman at the virginals, stands
at the back of the room with her back to us, but to us now this understated, undersold
character of the image is what makes it so fascinating and enigmatic.
But most of all what moves us, I think, about Vermeer’s painting is this combination of
extremely matter of fact depiction of a possible, or even real interior, with an extraordinary
power to evoke light and space by some very imaginative means.
He uses intensification of colour
but he also uses a kind of speckled touch of the brush as if he’s depicting light
falling on objects like droplets of water coming from a sprinkler.
It was not until the 1860s that Vermeer’s genius was recognised, and this painting was
attributed to him. It was rapidly to become one of the most sought-out works in the Royal
Collection - a collection of world-class importance that has been assembled by generations of
British monarchs, which can be seen here at the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace,
as well as at Windsor Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, and many other
royal residences open to the public across the UK.
More information about the Royal Collection can be found on our website, www.royalcollection.org.uk
.