Anthony van Dyck, 'Lord John Stuart and his Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart', about 1638
About the work
Overview
This life-size double portrait shows the youngest sons of the 3rd Duke of Lennox: Lord John Stuart, on the left, with his brother Lord Bernard Stuart. They were only about 17 and 18 but they ooze aristocratic superiority and are dressed in extravagant fashion.
Van Dyck’s ability to evoke the textures of silk and satin was one reason his portraits were so popular with the aristocracy at the time. Here he has enhanced the effects further by using the clear lines and muted colours of the background as a foil for the folds and rich colours of the fabrics.
He has also evoked a tension in the brothers' relationship. They stand close, their postures overlapping, each with his left hand on his hip and his torso turned towards the other. But their eyes do not meet. One leans back rather passively, while the other, who looks directly us, takes an active step forward, his spurs and sword clearly on display.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Lord John Stuart and his Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart
- Artist
- Anthony van Dyck
- Artist dates
- 1599 - 1641
- Date made
- about 1638
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 237.5 × 146.1 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1988
- Inventory number
- NG6518
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 19th-century English Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the National Gallery’s Annual Report, ‘The National Gallery Report: January 1988 – March 1989’.
Exhibition history
-
2009Van Dyck & BritainTate Britain18 February 2009 - 17 May 2009
-
2016Painters' Paintings: From Freud to Van DyckThe National Gallery (London)23 June 2016 - 4 September 2016
-
2019Rubens, Van Dyck and the Splendour of Flemish PaintingSzépművészeti Múzeum29 October 2019 - 16 February 2020
-
2022Gainsborough's Blue BoyThe National Gallery (London)25 January 2022 - 15 May 2022
-
2023Masterpieces from the National GalleryShanghai Art Museum East17 January 2023 - 7 May 2023National Museum of Korea2 June 2023 - 9 October 2023Hong Kong Palace Museum22 November 2023 - 11 April 2024Chimei Museum2 May 2024 - 1 September 2024
Bibliography
-
1815R. Smirke, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Pictures Now Exhibiting at the British Institution, London 1815
-
1830
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
-
1854G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
-
1857W. Bürger, Trésors d'art exposés à Manchester en 1857 et provenant des collections royales, des collections publiques et des collections particulières de la Grande Bretagne par W. Burger, Paris 1857
-
1877F.G. Stephens, On the Pictures at Cobham Hall: An Address Delivered in the Picture Gallery, July 27th, 1876, London 1877
-
1882J. Guiffrey, Antoine van Dyck: Sa vie et son oeuvre, Paris 1882
-
1887'The Grosvenor Exhibition (Third and Concluding Notice)', The Athenaeum, 1887
-
1887C.S. Robertson, 'Cobham Hall: Inventory of Furniture and Pictures in 1672', Archaeologia Cantiana, XVII, 1887, pp. 392-408
-
1899C. Phillips, 'Van Dyck's Works at the Academy', Daily Telegraph, II, 1899
-
1900L.H. Cust, Anthony van Dyck: An Historical Study of his Life and Works, London 1900
-
1900M. Rooses, Fifty Masterpieces of Anthony van Dyck in Photogravure, trans. F. Knowles, London 1900
-
1900E. Law, 'The van Dyck Exhibition at the Royal Academy, II', Magazine of Art, XXIV, 1900, pp. 200‑3
-
1900C. Phillips, 'Van Dyck at Burlington House', Art Journal, 1900
-
1909E. Schaeffer, Van Dyck: Des Meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart 1909
-
1922C. Holmes, 'Georges and Francis Villiers', The Burlington Magazine, XL, 1922, pp. 54-6
-
1930A.J.H. Cornette, La peinture à l'exposition d'art flamand à Anvers (exh. cat. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 1930), Brussels 1930
-
1931G. Glück, Van Dyck, des Meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart 1931
-
1932M.A. Cornette, Trésor de l'art Flamand du Moyen Age au XVIIIme siècle: Mémorial de l'exposition d'art Flamend ancient à Anvers 1930, par un groupe de spécialiste, Paris 1932
-
1937F. van den Wijngaert, Anthony Van Dyck, Antwerp 1937
-
1937C.R. Cammell, 'A Misnamed Portrait Group at the National Gallery', The Connoisseur, 1937, pp. 202ff
-
1970G. Martin, The Flemish School, circa 1600-circa 1900, London 1970
-
1974R.R. Wark, 'A Note on Gainsborough and van Dyck', Museum Monographs, III, 1974, pp. 45‑53
-
1982O. Millar, Van Dyck in England, London 1982-1983
-
1982C. Brown, Van Dyck, Oxford 1982
-
1987O. Millar, 'Sir Anthony van Dyck's "Double portrait of Lord John and Lord"', Sotheby's Art at Auction, 1988,
-
1988E. Larsen, The Paintings of Anthony van Dyck, Freren 1988
-
1988G. Waterfield et al., A Nest of Nightingales: Thomas Gainsborough: The Linley Sisters (exh. cat. Dulwich Picture Gallery, 21 September - 30 December 1988), London 1988
-
1988O. Millar, 'Sir Anthony Van Dyck's Double Portrait of Lord John and Lord Bernard Stuart', in S. Liddell (ed.), Sotheby's Art at Auction 1987-88, London 1988
-
1989National Gallery, The National Gallery Report: January 1988- March 1989, London 1989
-
1990S.J. Barnes, A.K. Wheelock and J. Held, Anthony Van Dyck, New York 1990-1991
-
1992G. Beard, The Complete Gentleman: Five Centuries of Aristocratic Life, New York 1992
-
1994M. Rogers, 'Van Dyck's Portrait of Lord George Stuart, Seigneur d'Aubigny, and Some Related Works', in S.J. Barnes and A.K. Wheelock (eds), <i>Van Dyck 350</i>, Washington 1994, pp. 263-78
-
1994B. Zuur, 'Art and Status in the Dutch Republic', in Faces of the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Portraits, The Hague 1994
-
1995R. White and J. Pilc, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XVI, 1995, pp. 85-95
-
1999H. Vlieghe and C. Brown, Van Dyck 1599-1641, Antwerp and London 1999
-
1999E.E.S. Gordenker, 'The Rhetoric of Dress in Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Portraiture', Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, LVII, 1999, pp. 87-104
-
1999A. Roy, 'The National Gallery van Dycks: Technique and Development', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XX, 1999, pp. 50‑83
-
1999R. White, 'Van Dyck's Paint Medium', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XX, 1999, pp. 84-8
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
-
2001E.E. Gordenker, Van Dyck (1599-1641) and the Representation of Dress in the Seventeenth-Century Portraiture, Turnhout 2001
-
2001E. Chaney and G. Worsdale, The Stuart Portrait: Status and Legacy (exh. cat., Southampton Art Gallery), Southampton 2001
-
2004H. Vey et al., Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven 2004
-
2007M. Baur-Callwey, Die Differenzierung des Gemeinsamen: Männliche Doppelporträts in England von Hans Holbein d. J. bis Joshua Reynolds, Munich 2007
-
2009K. Hearn (ed.), Van Dyck & Britain (exh. cat., Tate Britain, London), London 2009
-
2010C. Whitfield and E. Clark, Caravaggio's Friends & Foes, London 2010
-
2016S. Alsteens and A. Eaker, Van Dyck: The Anatomy of Portraiture, New Haven and London 2016
-
2016A. Robbins, Painters' Paintings: From Freud to Van Dyck (exh. cat., The National Gallery, London), London 2016
-
2019J. Tátrai, Van Dyck and the Splendour of Flemish Painting, ed. A. Varga, Budapest 2019-2020
-
2019H. Belsey and J. Yarker, Thomas Gainsborough: The Portraits, Fancy Pictures and Copies after Old Masters, New Haven 2019
-
2021J. Peacock, Picturing Courtiers and Nobles from Castiglione to Van Dyck: Self Representation by Early Modern Elites, New York 2021
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.