Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger
Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger was born in Bruges around 1561 or 1562. His father Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder fled to England with his son to escape persecution under the Duke of Alba. The elder painter worked as a printmaker and is known for the 1586 Wanstead Portrait of Elizabeth I. They lived with a Dutch servant in the London parish of St Mary Abchurch by 1568. The younger Marcus likely received training from his father though records are sparse. In September 1571 the elder Gheeraerts remarried Susanna de Critz from Antwerp. This new wife brought an exiled family into their household. Young Marcus married Magdalena sister of his stepmother in 1590. The couple had six children but only two sons survived: Marcus III and Henry who died in August 1650.
Roy Strong identified portraits of William Cecil dated around 1586 as early works by Gheeraerts. These pieces introduced three-dimensional modeling to English court painting. Sitters gained lifelike impressions through tonality and shadow rather than flat features. He used sombre colors and greyed flesh tones instead of brilliant hues. Gheeraerts became one of the first English artists to paint on canvas instead of wood panel. Canvas allowed much larger pictures to be produced for the first time. He also introduced full-length figures set out-of-doors in naturalistic landscapes. This feature appeared in portrait miniatures of the same era. Records suggest he visited Antwerp in the late eighties with fellow artist Isaac Oliver. They absorbed the portrait style of Frans Pourbus during that trip.
Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley retired as Queen's Champion in autumn 1590. Lee became Gheeraerts' patron around 1590 and quickly made him fashionable in court circles. The Queen likely sat for the Ditchley Portrait in 1592 at her Oxfordshire estate. Robert Devereux Earl of Essex employed Gheeraerts from 1596 onward. Royal accounts for 1596, 98 include payments for decorative work by Marcus Gerarde. A portrait of Elizabeth hangs in Trinity College Cambridge today. Around 1594 Gheeraerts painted Captain Thomas Lee standing in a landscape wearing Irish dress. The iconography alludes to Lee's service in Ireland. Essex used Gheeraerts exclusively for large-scale portraits from the mid-1590s. The 1596 full-length portrait shows Essex at Woburn Abbey with burning Cádiz in the background.
Queen Elizabeth stands on a map of England with her feet planted on Oxfordshire in the Ditchley Portrait. Storms rage behind her while sunlight shines before her face. She wears a jewel shaped like a celestial sphere near her left ear. The painting has been trimmed so inscriptions and sonnets remain incomplete. The new aesthetic displeased the aging queen who ordered softened versions created. These copies removed allegorical items to make features appear less stark. One version was sent as a diplomatic gift to Ferdinando I de' Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany. That copy now resides in the Palazzo Pitti. The original remained at Lee's home in Oxfordshire throughout its history. It likely commemorated her two-day visit to Ditchley in 1592.
James I's queen Anne of Denmark employed Gheeraerts for large scale paintings after Elizabeth died in 1603. In 1611 he received payment for portraits of King James Queen Anne and Princess Elizabeth. A portrait of Anne wearing mourning for Prince Henry Frederick dates from winter 1612-13. His 1611 portrait of Frances Howard Countess of Hertford used a draped silk curtain frame. This setting would later be adopted by William Larkin between 1613 and 1618. Portraits of Catherine Killigrew Lady Jermyn show quiet pensiveness and gentle charm. Isaac Oliver died in 1617 around the time Gheeraerts began losing favor. Paul van Somer displaced him as chief portraitist before Anne died in 1619. For the last twenty years of his life he worked chiefly with country gentry and academic sitters.
Gheeraerts maintained a studio staffed with assistants and apprentices to complete backgrounds. Records show similarities between his portraits of Robert Devereux and miniatures by brother-in-law Isaac Oliver. He was a member of the Court of the Painter-Stainers' Company during the 1620s. Ferdinando Clifton served as his apprentice and became a freeman of the Company in 1627. The number of surviving copies suggests widespread workshop production methods. Marcus III also became a painter following his father's path. Henry Gheeraerts lived until August 1650 though details about his career remain unclear. His half-sister Sara married Isaac Oliver in 1602 creating artistic family ties. Gheeraerts died on the 19th of January 1636 leaving behind a transformed English portraiture tradition.
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Common questions
When and where was Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger born?
Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger was born in Bruges around 1561 or 1562. His father fled to England with him to escape persecution under the Duke of Alba.
What artistic innovations did Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger introduce to English painting?
Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger became one of the first English artists to paint on canvas instead of wood panel. He also introduced full-length figures set out-of-doors in naturalistic landscapes and used three-dimensional modeling through tonality and shadow.
Who commissioned the Ditchley Portrait from Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger and when was it painted?
Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley commissioned the portrait which Queen Elizabeth likely sat for in 1592 at her Oxfordshire estate. The painting commemorates her two-day visit to Ditchley that same year.
How did Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger lose favor after the death of Queen Elizabeth I?
Paul van Somer displaced Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger as chief portraitist before Anne died in 1619. For the last twenty years of his life he worked chiefly with country gentry and academic sitters.
When did Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger die and what happened to his sons?
Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger died on the 19th of January 1636 leaving behind a transformed English portraiture tradition. His son Henry lived until August 1650 though details about his career remain unclear while Marcus III also became a painter.