Another Van Dyck copy by Jervas
July 16 2012
Picture: National Trust
A while ago I published what I believe is a copy by Charles Jervas of Van Dyck's famous portrait of the Stuart brothers. Yesterday I was at Petworth, and had a brief eureka moment as I spotted what I thought was another Jervas copy of a Van Dyck, the above portrait of Henrietta Maria with her dwarf, Jeffery Hudson.
The picture leaflet at the house said simply that the picture was 'After Van Dyck', but the colouring and brushwork were undoubtedly those of Jervas. Also, Jervas always seems to make his sitters more cheery than the original - I think he was quite a cheery man himself - and in the copy at Petworth Henrietta Maria seems markedly happier than in Van Dyck's original. (I'm aware this last observation is not exactly connoisseurial). But my attributional excitement was short-lived, for I see that the late Oliver Millar [in the 2004 Van Dyck catalogue raisonne] also thought the picture was by Jervas, and that it is catalogued in full as Jervas on the National Trust's own website. Still, great minds...
Also worth checking out is this other Jervas copy of Van Dyck's portrait of Charles I in the Hunting Field.
