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Description: | Acquisition: gift from Katherine Sheffield (née Darnley), Duchess of Buckingham and Normanby, 1722 Description: Whole length, seated to left in an ornately carved chair; long dark grey periwig, very high on forehead; large lace cravat and lace ruffles; black and gold robe of office over brown coat and breeches braided with gold; silk stockings of the same colour, and high heeled buckled shoes; ribbon of the Order of the Garter; his right hand rests on the arm of his chair; his left on a cushion that lies on a table to right and supports the Privy Seal purse. The table has a red velvet cover; a letter bearing a prominent seal lies on the floor to left addressed 'To His Grace the/ Duke of Buckingham/ and Normanbe -/ Lord Privy Seale; Red curtain background to left, large architectural detail with whole-length figures carved in relief, blue sky, clouds and trees to right. Shield of arms in cartouche at top of frame. Painted to commemorate Sheffield's appointment as Lord Privy Seal on 2 May 1702. The letter at lower left represents the letter patent by which the sitter was created Duke of Buckingham and Normanby by Queen Anne on 23 March 1703. The portrait was presumably painted before March 1705 when Buckingham was dismissed from his offices. The portrait was given to the University in 1722 by the Duke's widow, Katherine, née Darnley, daughter of James II: 'Honoratissima Domina D. Catherina (filia Regis Jacob II) ... vidua Nobilissimi Viri D. Ioannis Ducis Buckingham. Xystis Bodleianis donavit ejusdem Ducis effigiem' (Registrum Benefactorum, for the year 1722, Library Records b.904, Bodleian Library, II, p.130) 'The Duchess was a Jacobite sympathizer, and the marriage served to identify Buckingham further with high toryism.' (Margaret Sankey, entry for John Sheffield, first Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in Oxford DNB) During his visit to the Bodleian Picture Gallery in 1860, George Scharf, then Keeper of the National Portrait Gallery, noted in his sketchbook: 'a large & effective picture by Richardson life size full length of John Sheffield Duke of Buckingham died 1720 seated at a table to r.[ight] the great seal by him. Well & characterfully painted. His right hand very well done.' (G. Scharf, 'Trustee Sketchbooks', III, 1860, p.66, National Portrait Gallery Archive, London) External Link: Oxford Portraits website | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: by Jonathan Richardson, the elder | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=875... | Go to resource |
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