Anthony van Dyck was a 17th-century Flemish artist, considered second in skill only to his teacher, Peter Paul Rubens. His adept use of bold colours and loose brushwork, which gave his fabrics — in particular silk — the appearance of sheen and fluidity, helped him rise to become the leading court painter of King Charles I in London.
He transformed English portraiture, forgoing its stiff and strict conventions to create informal, whimsical pictures, which would go on to inspire Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. The writhing compositions and exaggerated emotions of his religious and mythological scenes, meanwhile, helped establish the tenets of Baroque painting in northern Europe.
Born in Antwerp in 1599, by 1618 Van Dyck was Rubens’ lead assistant and a master of the city’s guild. After a short spell in England, painting pictures for the leading Jacobean patrons Thomas Howard and George Villiers, he spent about six years in Italy, absorbing the work of the Renaissance — in particular Titian, acquiring no fewer than 19 of his paintings.
Van Dyck returned to Antwerp in 1627, before travelling onto The Hague in 1631. Across Europe his portraits were sought after by Archduchess Isabella, governess of the Spanish Netherlands; Queen Mother Maria de’Medici of France; Frederik Hendrik, the Prince of Orange; and the Winter King and Queen, Frederick V of the Palatinate and Elizabeth Stuart.
By 1632 Van Dyck was back in London, knighted and named court painter to Charles I and his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria. The decade saw him reach his apex, creating some of his most feted pictures, including Self-Portrait with a Sunflower; Lord John Stuart and his Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart; Charles I at the Hunt; and Cupid and Psyche.
In 1640, following Rubens’ death, he travelled to Antwerp, hoping to take his teacher’s place as the leader of the Antwerp School, but returned to London by May of the following year. The threat of civil war loomed in England though, unsettling his patrons and derailing his career. On 1 December, his wife Mary Ruthven, a lady in waiting to the queen, gave birth to their only child. Eight days later, following an illness, Van Dyck died, aged 42. He was buried in Saint Paul’s Cathedral, where his tomb was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599–1641 London)
Portrait of Princess Mary (1631–1660), daughter of King Charles I of England, full-length, in a pink dress decorated with silver embroidery and ribbons
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
A rearing stallion
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of Hendrick Liberti (c. 1600-1669), half-length, in black, with three gold chains, holding a sheet of music, by a column
SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON)
Portrait of a Carmelite monk, head and shoulders
SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON)
Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria, three-quarter-length, in a gold gown
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
A rearing stallion
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Saint Sebastian after His Ordeal
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of Anne Sophia, Countess of Carnarvon (d. 1695), full-length, in a green dress with white silk bows and pearls, and gold-embroidered curtain beyond
SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON)
Portrait of Willem Hondius
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of a gentleman, traditionally called a Senator of Antwerp, half-length, leaning on a plinth
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of Mrs. Oliver St. John, later Lady Poulett, full-length, holding pink roses, in a grey silk dress, before a draped red curtain
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Head study of a man in a ruff
SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON)
The Adoration of the Shepherds - a bozzetto
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of a Cavalier
Sir Anthony van Dyck Antwerp 1599-1641 London
Portrait of Anne Cavendish, Lady Rich (1612-1638), full-length, in a black dress with yellow slashed sleeves, a yellow stole, and a pearl necklace and earrings, holding a rose, by a red draped curtain
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-1669), three-quarter-length, in a gold satin dress and lace collar and cuffs
SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON) AND STUDIO
Christ on the cross
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of François Langlois, half-length, playing a musette
SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON)
Head study of a man
Attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Study of a bearded man, in profile - a modello
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
A portrait of Sir Robert Howard, K.B. (1626-1698), half-length
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of Prince William II of Holland (1626-1650), full-length, with a hound
Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
The Holy Family with the infant Saint John Baptist adored by a saint or patron ( recto ); A group of standing men in robes ( verso )
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of Henry Jermyn, the future Lord Jermyn and Earl of St Albans (1605-1684), half-length, in a black doublet and lace collar
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
The Betrayal of Christ
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of a lady, believed to be Penelope, Lady Bayning (1620-1647), later Lady Herbert, half-length, in a blue satin gown
Attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of Paolo Gregorio Raggi, three-quarter-length, in armour and a red cloak, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword, a wooded landscape beyond
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of a military commander, bust-length in profile, in damascened armour with white collar and red sash
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of Jan van Malderen
ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANVERS 1599-1641 LONDRES)
Un moine franciscain, assis, levant les yeux
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of Ambrogio Spinola (1569-1630), full-length, in armour, wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, holding a baton in his right hand, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword
Circle of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Head study of an old man
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Saint Paul; and Saint Thomas
Follower of Sir Anthony van Dyck
Portrait of Nicholas Rockox (1560-1640), half length, in black coat and a white ruff
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Head Study of Saint Anthony of Padua
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Head study of a bearded man
After Sir Anthony van Dyck
Equestrian portrait of King Charles I, full-length, in armour on a dun horse, a baton in his right hand, wearing the Order of the Garter, followed by an equerry carrying his helmet
Circle of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Head of a bearded man
FOLLOWER OF SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK
Portrait of King Charles I (1600-1649), three-quarter-length, in armour, holding a baton, with his right hand on a sphere
ANTHONY VAN DYCK (1599-1641)
Self-Portrait, from: Icones Principum Virorum
ENTOURAGE DE SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANVERS 1599-1641 BLACKFRIARS)
Portrait de Francesco de Moncada, marquis d’Aytona (1586-1635)
Attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Saint Simon - unfinished
Attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
The Crucifixion with Saint Rosalia
SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON)
Portrait of a woman, bust-length
STUDIO OF SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON)
Portrait of Henrietta of Lorraine, Princess of Phalzburg and Lixheim (1605-1660), three-quarter-length, in a black and silver dress, with an unidentified attendant
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Portrait of Doña Polissena Spinola, Marchesa de Leganés (1600-1637), full-length, seated, in a black dress
SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON)
Head study of a bearded man
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London) and Studio
Portrait of a lady, full-length, in a blue satin dress with an orange wrap, beside a rose bush in a stone urn, her right hand touching a rose
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Christ with the Cross
Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)
Venus disarming Mars