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Article: Royal Portraits, Made to Be Copied

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Home›How to collect antique paintings›Royal Portraits, Made to Be Copied

Royal Portraits, Made to Be Copied

Van Dyck painted the Earl of Arundel around 1620. Two centuries later the face was still being copied, on a panel the size of a hand.

The original is in the Getty Museum. The copy is in this collection.

The Earl of Arundel seated in a black cloak and white ruff, a gold pendant in his hand, after Van Dyck The courtier A ruff, a black cloak and the gold pendant of the Garter, two hundred years after the sitting. Earl of Arundel, after Van Dyck, 1800s
Emperor Joseph II at bust length, a vermilion collar and a pale blue sash, in a gilt frame The emperor A face every subject knew, painted again at nine inches high. Emperor Joseph II, Austrian School, 1800s
A Habsburg archduke in a white uniform with the Golden Fleece and a silver star The archduke White coat, Golden Fleece, and a label on the back that gives him a name. Archduke in White Uniform, Austrian School, about 1800

A royal portrait was designed to be repeated. Each copy after it is an original oil painting of its own time, not a later fake.

Why Royal Portraits Were Copied

The king could sit for one portrait. He could not hang in every room that needed him.

One copy for
1sittingpainted from life One sitting, many copies An embassy abroadA provincial parliamentA ministry in the capitalA loyal noble houseA foreign court, as a gift

A copy was not a fake. It was how the face reached the room.

How a Royal Portrait Workshop Worked

Rigaud's account books record, for each commission, how much of the canvas he painted himself.

A canvas painted entirely by the master Entirely his handRecorded in the books as his own work. The master painted the head, assistants the rest The head onlyAssistants laid in the velvet, the lace and the ground. A workshop replica supervised but not painted by the master Supervised replicaPainted in his rooms, to his design, sold with his approval.

All three left the same door, and all three were period originals.

How to Read a Later Copy of a Court Portrait

Look for what the copyist kept, and what the owner added.

Earl of Arundel, after Anthony van Dyck, 1800s, oil on panel

Bearded face above a stiff white ruff, turned slightly toward the viewerDetail of the face.The faceWhat was keptA short beard above a stiff white ruffThe likeness the copy existed to carry Dark sleeve ending in a white lace cuff, the hand resting over the pendantDetail of the hand.The handThe badgeThe hand rests over a gold pendantThe badge of Saint George, emblem of the Garter Handwritten page quoting Mrs Jameson on Lord Arundel, the first virtuoso of his timeDetail of the back.The backWhat was addedA handwritten page pasted over the panelMrs Jameson on Arundel, the first virtuoso of his time

Two centuries on, the copy still came with a reason to hang it.

What Happened to Royal Portraits After 1793

Four fates for a king's face in a republic.

Flames BurnedSome, in the public bonfires of the Revolution.
A crossed-out canvas DefacedThe face slashed or the arms painted out, the canvas kept.
A rolled canvas HiddenRolled into an attic by a family that meant to bring it back.
A house Sold onThe name quietly lost, and the sitter became a gentleman.

The fourth is why so many unnamed portraits look grander than their labels.

Buying an Antique Royal Portrait

The face against the lace On a workshop version the face is often stronger. That is the division of labor showing, not a fault.
A famous face is a copy If every subject knew the sitter, the canvas is almost certainly a later version, not the sitting itself. That is how these portraits were meant to travel.

Works citedAnthony van Dyck, Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, about 1620-1621. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Court portraits for sale

Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, after Anthony van Dyck, seated in a ruff and black cloak, 19th century oil on panel Earl of Arundel, after van Dyck $2,800See the painting Portrait of Emperor Joseph II, 19th century Austrian School oil on canvas, in a gilt frame Emperor Joseph II, 1800s $2,900See the painting Portrait of a Habsburg archduke in the white uniform of the Austrian army with the Golden Fleece and the Maria Theresa star, Austrian school circa 1800, in a gilt frame Archduke in White Uniform $3,200See the painting
For sale
Antique Portrait Paintings Antique Portrait Paintings25 paintingsBrowse the collection
Keep reading More in The Portrait TraditionFrench Impressionist Portraits Beyond the Famous Names Related guideRigaud, Tocqué and the French Rococo Portrait Related guidePortraits of Unknown Sitters in Old Master Painting Every guide, by subject

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Photographs and descriptions of the paintings in our collection by GalerieClub Fine Art.