Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist, who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy.
Paintings by Anthony van Dyck
Cupid and Psyche (van Dyck) (1639)
Cupid and Psyche is an oil on canvas painting by Anthony van Dyck. It is now in the British Royal Collection and shown in Kensington Palace.
One of the last works in van Dyck's oeuvre, it shows a marked influence of Titian and dates from his time as a court artist to Charles I of England. It is his sole surviving mythological painting from that period and possibly comes from a series of paintings on the Cupid and Psyche theme ordered for the Queen's House at Greenwich; other artists involved in the series included Jacob Jordaens and van Dyck's old tutor Peter Paul Rubens. That project was never completed, which is one possible explanation why the painting has no frame and is relatively unfinished. This would date it to 1638–1640. A second alternative is that it was produced for the celebrations of Princess Mary's marriage to William II of Orange in 1641. The figure of Psyche may have been based on van Dyck's mistress Margaret Lemon.
Charles I in Three Positions (1635)
Charles I in Three Positions, also known as the Triple Portrait of Charles I, is an oil painting of King Charles I of England painted in 1635–1636 by the Flemish artist Sir Anthony van Dyck, showing the King from three viewpoints: left full profile, face on, and right three-quarter profile. It is currently part of the Royal Collection.
The colours of the costumes and pattern of the lace collars are different in each portrait, though the blue riband of the Order of the Garter is present in all three. The painting was probably begun in the latter part of 1635 and was sent to Rome in 1636 to be used as a reference work for the Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini to create a marble bust of Charles I. Pope Urban VIII sent the bust to Charles's queen Henrietta Maria in 1638 in the hope of encouraging a reconciliation of the Roman Catholic Church with the Church of England.
Charles I with M. de St Antoine (1636)
Charles I with M. de St Antoine is an oil painting on canvas by the Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck, depicting Charles I on horseback, accompanied by his riding master, Pierre Antoine Bourdon, Seigneur de St Antoine.
Charles I became King of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1625 on the death of his father James I, and van Dyck became Charles's Principal Painter in Ordinary in 1632. This portrait is dated 1633 and was the first equestrian portrait of Charles I painted by van Dyck.
The Crowning with Thorns (van Dyck) (1620)
The Crowning with Thorns is an oil painting on canvas created ca. 1618–1620 by the Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck. He produced it aged 20 during his first Antwerp period, when he was the main studio assistant and pupil of Peter Paul Rubens. The painting shows Rubens' influence in its relatively sombre palette, chiaroscuro and highly realistic portrayal of musculature. Van Dyck seems to have completed it early during his stay in Italy, since it also shows the influence of Titian and other Venetian painters, as seen in the treatment of Jesus' face.
Once it was complete, van Dyck offered the painting to Rubens, who declined it. It was then bought by Philip IV of Spain, who held it in the Escorial before it entered the Museo del Prado, in Madrid, in 1839.
Lord John Stuart and His Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart (1638)
Lord John Stuart and His Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart is a large oil painting by Anthony van Dyck, executed c. 1638. The life-size double portrait depicts the two youngest sons of Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox: Lord John Stewart (1621–1644) and Lord Bernard Stuart (1622–1645), aged about 17 and 16 respectively. The painting measures 237.5 cm × 146.1 cm (93.5 in × 57.5 in), and has been in the collection of the National Gallery, London, since 1988.
The painting depicts two young men. On the left is the sixth son of the 3rd Duke of Lennox, Lord John Stewart, and on the right is his seventh son, Lord Bernard Stewart (as is common in modern times, the National Gallery uses the French-influenced spelling "Stuart" for their family's name). Van Dyck also painted a portrait of their older brother, James, later 4th Duke of Lennox and 1st Duke of Richmond, which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Self-Portrait with a Sunflower (1632)
Self-Portrait with a Sunflower is a self-portrait by Anthony van Dyck, a Flemish Baroque artist from Antwerp, then in the Spanish Netherlands. The oil on canvas painting is generally between 1632 and 1633. His successful ventures in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy propelled van Dyck into a career as court painter. Van Dyck was serving as "principal Paynter in order to their Majesties" at the court of Charles I of England when he created this self-portrait. The symbolism behind the sunflower and gold chain have been a point of contention amongst various art historians. Van Dyck's dedication to capturing the likeness of his models was the basis for his strong influence over the art of portraiture long after his death in 1641. His portrait technique evolved into what is referred to as his Late English period as seen in Self-Portrait with a Sunflower. This work is now in the private collection of the Duke of Westminster, housed at Eaton Hall in Cheshire.
The portrait features the artist Anthony van Dyck looking over his shoulder at the viewer. His gaze centres on the viewer, as if calmly startled by the presence of an onlooker. His right hand is poised to touch the bottom petals of a yellow sunflower. His left index finger and thumb hold a gold chain that extends across his right shoulder and down his posterior side. This is a visual trick of calling attention to the chain and the message it portrays. This chain is understood to be a gift the artist received from his patron, Charles I. The gold chain holds a medal with the king's likeness on it, but is concealed by the artist's right arm sleeve. He is portrayed to be outdoors in nature, as seen by the clouds in the background. He is clothed in a richly-dyed pink overcoat with a white shirt visible on his collar, shirt cuffs, and a slender slit on his back. The light source is radiating from the bottom left corner, illuminating the outer petals of the sunflower. This gives the visual effect of the sunflower "shining" on Anthony van Dyck's face in approval, a common interpretation of the sunflower.
Charles I at the Hunt (1635)
Charles I at the Hunt, also known under its French title Le Roi à la chasse, is an oil-on-canvas portrait of Charles I of England by Anthony van Dyck, dated to c. 1635, and now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. It depicts Charles in civilian clothing and standing next to a horse as if resting on a hunt, in a manner described by the Louvre as a "subtle compromise between gentlemanly nonchalance and regal assurance".
Van Dyck gives his naturalistic style full expression: "Charles is given a totally natural look of instinctive sovereignty, in a deliberately informal setting where he strolls so negligently that he seems at first glance nature's gentleman rather than England's King". The 266 cm by 207 cm painting depicts Charles in lighter colours to the left of the painting, standing against the darker ground and the shadowed servants and horse under a tree to the right; his dark hat prevents his face from appearing washed out by the sky.
The Vision of the Blessed Hermann Joseph (1629)
The Vision of the Blessed Hermann Joseph, or The Mystical Engagement of the Blessed Hermann Joseph to the Virgin Mary, is a 1629-1630 painting by the Flemish Baroque painter Anthony van Dyck.
The painting depicts Hermann Joseph (c. 1150–1241), a Premonstratensian canon and priest from the Cologne region. He had a devotion to the Virgin Mary and according to legend had several visions of her during his lifetime – the painting shows one of these, in which he was joined in a mystic marriage to her and received the name 'Joseph' after her spouse Saint Joseph Produced for a chapel in Saint Ignatius Church in Antwerp (as had Coronation of Saint Rosalia the previous year), it is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Crucifixion (van Dyck) (1630)
The Crucifixion is an oil on canvas painting by Anthony van Dyck, produced c. 1630. It is 2.51 m high.
It was originally commissioned as the high altar-piece in the convent of the Récollets in Lille during van Dyck's second Antwerp period, between his return from Italy in 1627 and his departure for London in 1632. It returned to a theme he had already painted around 1617–19 during his first Antwerp period, when he was still a studio-assistant to Rubens – this was the Crucifixion with the Virgin, Saint John and Saint Mary Magdalene, sold to Rubens in 1621 as the high altarpiece for the Jesuit church at the abbaye Saint-Winnoq in Bergues, now in the Louvre. The second work's composition is more original, with a less central cross in an oblique position to give depth to the scene. The sky and the Magdalene's hair show the influence of the Venetian masters van Dyck had seen during his time in Italy.
Self-portrait with Sir Endymion Porter (1635)
Self-portrait with Sir Endymion Porter is a self-portrait by Anthony van Dyck, showing him with his patron Sir Endymion Porter.
The painting was produced in 1635 and measures 119 by 127 centimetres (47 in × 50 in). It is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.
Drunken Silenus (van Dyck) (1620)
Drunken Silenus is a 1620 painting by Anthony van Dyck, now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.
Samson and Delilah (van Dyck, Vienna) (1630)
Samson and Delilah is a 1630 painting by Anthony van Dyck. Like his 1620 version of the subject, it is in the style of his former master Peter Paul Rubens. Unlike Rubens, however, van Dyck shows Delilah seemingly appalled at her own betrayal of Samson and regretting her act of treason, whereas Rubens showed him as a captive and her as an unscrupulous temptress. Van Dyck's palette in the work also reveals the influence of Titian during van Dyck's stay in Italy. It is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.