The Wellington Connection - Count D'Orsay

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, by Alfred, Count D'Orsay

Whilst the Duke of Wellington approved of elegance and was himself known as "the Beau," he felt obliged to advise his splendidly uniformed Grenadier Guards that their behavior was "not only ridiculous but unmilitary" when they rode into battle on a rainy day with their umbrellas raised. A dandy Wellington was not. Odd, then, that one of the pictures of himself that Wellington liked most was one done by one of the greatest dandies of his day - Count D'Orsay. D'Orsay sketched the Duke in profile (above), in evening dress, and the Duke is said to have rather liked the picture, because it "made him look like a gentleman."

Count Albert Guillaume d’Orsay, the son of one of Napoleon’s generals, and descended by a morganatic marriage from the King of Wurttemburg was himself a gentleman in every sense, and his courtesy was of the highest kind. At the balls given by his regiment, although he was more courted than any other officer, he always sought out the plainest girls and showed them the most flattering attentions. During his firsts visit to London, Count d’Orsay was invited once or twice to receptions given by the Earl and Countess of Blessington, where he was well received, though this was only an incident of his English sojourn. Before the story proceeds any further it is necessary to give an account of the Earl and of Lady Blessington, since both of their careers had been, to say the least, unusual.

Lord Blessington was an Irish peer for whom an ancient title had been revived. He was remotely descended from the Stuarts of Scotland, and therefore had royal blood to boast of. He had been well educated, and in many ways was a man of pleasing manner. On the other hand, he had early inherited a very large property which yielded him an income of about thirty thousand pounds a year. He had estates in Ireland, and he owned nearly the whole of a fashionable street in London, with the buildings erected on it.

Thrown together by the same society and so often in each other's company, the Earl of Blessington became as devoted to D’Orsay as did his wife. The two urged the Count to secure a leave of absence and to accompany them to Italy. This he was easily persuaded to do; and the three passed weeks and months of a languorous and alluring intercourse among the lakes and the seductive influence of romantic Italy. Just what passed between Count d’Orsay and Margaret Blessington at this time cannot be known, for the secret of it has perished with them; but it is certain that before very long they came to know that each was indispensable to the other.

The situation was complicated by the Earl of Blessington, who, entirely unsuspicious, proposed that the Count should marry Lady Harriet Gardiner, his eldest legitimate daughter by his first wife. He pressed the match upon the embarrassed D’Orsay, and offered to settle the sum of forty thousand pounds upon the bride. The girl was less than fifteen years of age. She had no gifts either of beauty or of intelligence; and, in addition, D’Orsay was now deeply in love with her stepmother.

Count D'Orsay, self portrait

But once again I digress. Suffice it to say that eventually Lady Blessington and the Count set up a home together, both in London, at Gore House, and in Paris, where Lady Blessington died. Upon her death, andbefore when they found themselves in straightened financial waters, the Count drew upon his artistic talents, both in painting and sculpture, in order to earn money. Whatever one thought about the Count personally, no one could deny his artistic talent. D'Orsay would go on to produce a painting of Gore House, of which I can find no image to use here. Instead, I give you a comtemporary print of Gore House -

And the description of D'Orsay's painting, which illustrates the illustrious circles D'Orsay found himself within and also brings us back to the Duke of Wellington -

"A garden view of Gore House, the residence of the late Countess of Blessington, with Portraits of the Duke of Wellington, Lady Blessington, the Earl of Chesterfield, Sir Edwin Landseer, Count D'Orsay, the Marquis of Douro (2nd Duke of Wellington), Lord Brougham, the Misses Power, etc.  In the foreground, to the right, are the Duke of Wellington and the Countess of Blessington; in the centre, Sir Edwin Landseer seated, who is in the act of sketching a very fine cow, which is standing in front, with a calf by its side, while Count D'Orsay, with two favorite dogs, is seen on the right of the group, and the Earl of Chesterfield on the left; nearer the house, the two Misses Power (nieces of Lady Blessington) are reading a letter, a gentleman walking behind. Further to the left appear Lord Brougham, the Marquis of Douro, etc., seated under a tree in conversation."

Paul and Thomas Sandby, Painters of Britain

Victoria here, sorting out bookshelves...yes, that's sort of like cleaning, but not quite.  And I found a treasure.  Couldn't remember when I bought it, but I found a copy of a wonderful book: Views of Windsor: Watercolours by Thomas and Paul Sandby.  Of course, I had to quit the sorting and sit down to enjoy it. 

The mystery was solved when I checked the publication page and saw that it is a catalogue which accompanied the exhibition of the same name from 1995-1997, which was shown in Amsterdam; Portland, Oregon; Memphis; Dallas; and Manchester, UK.  I must have seen it in Dallas.  The paintings are from the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. To see more, click here.

Paul Sandby, The Castle from the Long Walk, ca. 1765

Watercolour with pen and ink over graphite within black line

Zoom on Image here.

This is the view of the castle before the Round Tower was "tarted up" as a Gothic Fantasy by George IV and his architect Jeffry Wyattville in the 1820's. Below, the view since that time, a much taller and more elaborate building.

Windsor Castle, Round Tower, 2010

Thomas Sandby (1721-1798) was the elder of the two brothers, both born in Nottingham. Thomas was an architectural draughtsman, artist and teacher. He joined the staff  of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, for his campaigns in Flanders and Scotland (1743–1748). Later, he became Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park, and also spent part of the year in London where he engaged in numerous architectural and artistic projects. He and his brother were among the 28 persons who were chosen as founding members of  the Royal Academy; Thomas was the RA's first Professor of Architecture.

Thomas Sandby, RA, by Sir William Beechey, n.d., NPG, London

Paul Sandby, View through the Norman Gateway, looking west towards the Winchester Tower,

 ca. 1770; Watercolour with pen and ink over graphite

Zoom here.

Paul Sandby (1731-1809) was chief draughtsman for the Board of Ordnance's 1747 project of mapping the Scottish Highlands. In the 1750's, Paul and Thomas Sandby created hundreds of views of Windsor, the castle, the royal grounds, the town and other scenes.  Their work was admired by artists such as Gainsborough, who appreciated the details they captured. More than 500 of their paintings and drawings are held in the Royal Collection.  Paul was chief drawing master to the Royal Military academy and published several volumes of his works over the years. At his death, he was called "the father of modern landscape painting."

Paul Sandby sketching, by Francis Coates, 1791

Tate Britain

Paul Sandby, The Henry VIII Gateway and the Salisbury Tower from within the Lower Ward, ca. 1770

Watercolour with pen and ink over graphite within black ink line

Though it may be difficult to see without enlarging these views (which can easily be done with the zoom feature of the Royal Collection), one of the major interests of the Sandbys' work goes beyond the exactitude of the buildings in time.  The figures in the foreground, pedestrians, workers, riders...all provide a perfect picture of what people wore, what they did, even what they ate at the time.  They provide a rich source for those of us who obsess over minute details of the period.

Paul Sandby, The north front of the Castle from Isherwood's Brewery in Datchet Lane, c. 1765

Watercolour and body colour with pen and ink

Zoom here.

Paul Sandby, The Norman Gateway from the gate to the North Terrace, ca. 1770

Watercolour and bodycolour with pen and ink over graphite

Zoom here.

Paul Sandby, The Castle from Datchet Lane on a rejoicing night, 1768

Watercolour and bodycolour including gold paint, within black line

Zoom Here.

The subject matter of the rejoicing night is unknown; from the leaves on the trees, it cannot be Guy Fawkes Night (5 November), but the distant bonfire and/or fireworks suggests a celebration.

Thomas and Paul Sandby The Walk and terrace at Cranbourne Lodge 1752

Watercolour and bodycolour with Pen and ink over graphite

This volume of wonderful views of Windsor is now in a more prominent position in my bookcases -- and I am willing to report that I plan to share any more treasures I uncover.  I've already got one in mind, Royal London.  Coming one of these days....

Kenwood House: Traveling Treasures

Early Spring at Kenwood House

Victoria here, recalling several visits to Kenwood House, a beautiful white mansion sitting atop Hampstead Heath just outside of central London.  Originally built in the early 17th century, it was remodeled by Robert Adam 1764-1779 in the neoclassic style with Adam's distinctive and oft-copied interiors.

1st Earl of Mansfield (1705-1793)

At the time, it was owned by William Murray, who was named Baron Mansfield, later 1st Earl of Mansfield.  He was the Lord Chief Justice from 1756 to 1788 and is credited with  major contributions to the development of English law as well as measures to end slavery in the British Isles.

Elevations of Kenwood House, 1764

The famous Library

In 1925, Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh (1847-1927) and heir to a brewery fortune, bought the house from the Mansfield heirs as the home for his magnificent collection of art. At Iveagh's death in 1927, he left both the house and the art collection to the nation.  It is also known as the Iveagh Bequest.

Now managed by English Heritage, Kenwood House is undergoing extensive renovations and improvements, returning many rooms to their appearance after Robert Adam decorated them, probably to match the library, which has been long admired by visitors.

In 2012-13 an exhibition of works from the collection Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London   is touring museums in the United States while Kenwood House is closed. Many of the works have never before been outside Britain.  The treasured Rembrandt Self-Portrait was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art briefly in spring before the whole exhibition opened at the Fine Arts Museum of Houston, Texas, where it can been seen until September 3, 2012.

Self Portrait, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1661

I am particularly excited because the collection will next travel to the Milwaukee Art Museum (practically in my front yard) from October 12, 2012 through January 13, 2013.  After Milwaukee, the collection will be shown in Seattle and later yet at the Arkansas Art Center.

The other artists celebrated in the title of this traveling exhibition include Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) who painted numerous portraits of English royalty and aristocrats.

Princess Henrietta of Lorraine attended by a Page, 1634

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) is renowned for his exquisite portraits, and this one is among his best.

Mary, Countess of Howe, c. 1764

Many other masterworks are included in the nearly fifty paintings in the exhibition by artists such as Canaletto,  Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Thomas Lawrence,  Sir Edwin Landseer, and...

Portrait of Pieter van der Broecke, by Frans Hals, 1633

Joseph Mallord William Turner, A Coast Scene

 with Fisherman Hauling a Boat Ashore, c. 1803-04

George Romney, Emma Hart as The Spinstress, c. 1783-84

The exhibition Rembrandt, van Dyck and Gainsborough: Treasures from Kenwood House is organized by The American Federation of Art and English Heritage.

The Sculptor Chantrey

For those of us who love to poke around in British palaces, castles, stately homes, museums and all sorts of historical sites (that's probably all of us), with a special interest in the Georgian and Victorian periods (most of us??), sooner or later we will begin to notice the recurring name of Francis Chantrey, a sculptor whose works are simply all over the place.

Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey, by Thomas Phillips, 1818 (NPG)

Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey (1781-1841) was not only a renowned and prolific artist, but also a philanthropist who left a bequest for the purchase of artwork for the nation.  The income from investing the £105,000 from his legacy has been used to purchase hundreds of artworks by British artists for the nation's museums and continues to this day.

Chantrey self portrait, 1810, Tate Britain

The UK's National Portrait Gallery has hundreds of works by Chantrey himself, from sketches executed as preparation for his sculptures, to marble busts of leading men of his generation.

Drawings Chantrey made of Sir John Soane, preparatory work for the bust Chantrey sculpted which today can be seen in Sir John Soane's Museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, below.

Close-up of the bust of Sir John Soane

Last year, at the Yale Center for British Art, Diane Gaston, a well-known Regency author, and Victoria posed with a Chantrey bust of George IV. 

As so often in Georgian-era portraits, the subject is wearing a Roman-style toga.  And without being unrealistic, somehow the expression on the King's face seems to me quite representative of his character.  Unlike the overly flattering pictures by others, particularly Sir Thomas Lawrence, this Chantrey bust gives us a hint of the dichotomy in George IV: one the one hand selfish, narcissistic and extravagant -- but on the other hand, a great builder and  connoisseur of the arts.

This Chantrey bust is one of several similar versions he and his studio produced, dated 1827.

Chantrey's equestrian statue of George IV

 

George IV and the royal family were frequent patrons of Chantrey.  His bronze state of Geogbe IV on horseback can be found in Trafalgar Square, as above. Below is George IV in the center of the Grand Vestibule of Windsor Castle's State Rooms, flanked by mounted knights.

The magnificent statue of the mounted Duke of Wellington by Chantrey stands outside the Royal Exchange in the City of London.

Below, a sketch of the pedestal made by Chantrey for the Wellington statue.

Chantrey's sketch of the Duke of Wellington for a bust.

Born near Sheffield, Francis Chantrey was the son of a carpenter and became an apprentice to a woodcarver.  His skill and talentset him apart, and he was given lessons in painting.  He was a able to earn enough as a portrait painter to move to London, where by 1804, he was included in exhibitions at the Royal Academy

Chantrey Self-Portrait, NPG

 In a few years, he devoted himself mainly to sculpture.  He married in 1807, and soon was doing commissions for naval officers and the Greenwich Hospital.  He visited Italy in 1819 and associated with the leading artists of his day.  He was knighted in 1835 by William IV.  When he died, he was buried in a tomb he had constructed for himself in St. James Church, near Sheffield.

Above, the Marble Hall at Holkham Hall in Norfolk, the estate of the earls of Leicester.   On either side of the staircase (on the right behind the piano) are two busts by Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey.

Reproduction of a marble bust of Coke of Norfolk (1754-1842), by Chantrey, from 1829, which can be purchased from the estate at their website: http://www.holkhamsculpturereproductions.co.uk/
Coke of Norfolk, a great agricultural innovator, was the great nephew of Thomas Coke, and Coke of Norfolk was named 1st Earl of Leicester of the Seventh Creation in 1837.

Below, the reproduction of Chantrey's marble copy of a bust of Thomas Coke, first Earl of Leicester (1697-1759) of the Sixth Creation. created by Louis Francoise Roubilliac (1705-1762).  Both busts were sculpted to stand among the large collection of classical busts acquired by Thomas Coke and displayed at Holkham.

Above, Sir Joseph Banks in the British Museum, Botanist, Trustee and Benefactor, by Sir Francis Chantey, dated 1826.

Also displayed in the British Museum, Chantrey's bust of his collaborator and mentor, the famous 18th c. sculptor Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823).

Besides the dozens of busts Chantrey sculpted, which were highly prized and sought after, he did some touching works which displayed his skill in composition as well as compassion.

The Sleeping Children, 1817, above, in the Litchfield Cathedral, was commissioned by the widowed mother of the two dead girls, Mrs. Ellen-Jane Woodhouse Robinson.  Most observers find it the finest of Chantrey's works.

The Royal Collection

The lovely portrayal of Dorothea Jordan was commissioned  from Chantrey by King William IV and completed in 1834. It has been displayed in Buckingham Palace since 1980.  Mrs. Jordan, a leading actress of her day, was the long-time mistress of William IV when he was Duke of Clarence and bore him ten children, known by the surname FitzClarence.

Bridgeman

This drawing of the anteroom of Chantrey's sculpture gallery (30 Belgrave Place) shows its design by Sir John Soane for his friend, the sculptor.

Pen, Brush and Chisel: The Studio of Sir Francis Chantrey by artist Sir Edwin Landseer (1803-73), Royal Collection

This charming portrait of Mustard, Chantrey's terrier, and his sculpting tools was presented to Queen Victoria by Lady Chantrey in 1842. According to the description in the Royal Collection, "The painting was commissioned in April 1835 by Chantrey, who sent Landseer a humorous letter, supposedly from Mustard. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1836 when it was admired by Queen Victoria."  After Chantrey's death, his widow presented the painting to the Queen.

Queen Victoria, marble, 1841, by Sir Francis Chantrey, Royal Collection

Chantrey created portraits of four British sovereigns.  Above, his last work, a bust of Queen Victoria,  was Prince Albert's  favorite portrayal of his wife

Also in the Royal Collection is this watercolour on ivory by Andrew Robertson (1777-1845), dated 1800. Purchased  by Queen Victoria in 1880, it portrays Chantrey "Half-length, standing, facing slightly to the right, wearing a grey studio coat and dark blue waistcoat and holding a hammer, chisel and yellow dustcloth, beside his bust of George IV; grey-blue eyes, grey-brown hair; red curtains background."

The painting above is The Burial of Sir Frances Chantrey  by artist Henry Perlee Parker, 1841. It was  badly damaged in a flood in 2007 at the Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, and had to be dried for more than a year before it was conserved.  Chantrey is buried in St. James Church, Sheffield, near the village of his birth.