Durham earliest and most characteristic example of genuine A.D. 1190. and abstract portraiture in fresco painting is the lifesized, although much damaged, portrait of Richard I. standing on the side wall of a niche, facing the figure of Bishop Pudsey, in the Galilee of Durham Cathedral. Henry III. 1216-72. Westminster paint 1256. Henry III., that liberal patron of art, employed both foreign and native artists in the decoration of his palaces with scriptural histories; and in the year 1245 we read of a London artist, Edward de Westminster, son of Odo the goldsmith, being commissioned to paint in St. Stephen's Chapel a beautiful figure of the Blessed Virgin on one side, and the king and queen on the wall opposite. William, a monk of Westminster, who served also ings. as chief of the painters at Windsor Castle, executed an allegorical picture under the king's direction at Westminster, in 1256, in the royal lavatory, which represented the king being rescued by his dogs from the seditions and mischiefs plotted against him by his subjects. Portrait at Windsor. 1270. Only one fragmentary example in colours now remains of the regal portraiture of this period. It is to be seen on the south wall of the deanery cloisters at Windsor. Little, however, now exists, beyond the crowned head, with blue-shaded waving hair and staring eyes. But the drawing is bold, and the general appearance of the face coincides with the beautiful bronze effigy of the monarch, so well preserved in Westminster Abbey, and still more closely corresponds with certain regal figures in some of the manuscripts in the British Museum of the same period. But it is not my intention to dwell here upon the history of art in this country. I have only ventured to adduce these examples for the purpose of showing what kind of employment our figure-painters met with in those days, and to observe that abstract portraiture, of historic personages, was scarcely ever thought of for its own sake-excepting on coins, seals, and monumental effigies-before the fifteenth century. 1364. I must not, however, omit to mention one very St. Stephen's remarkable instance which existed till recently, in St. Chapel. Stephen's Chapel at Westminster, of a series of royal portraits, displaying the entire family of King Edward III., painted on the east wall. They were represented kneeling, in two distinct groups, one on each side of the high altar. The King and his sons on the north side, and the Queen with her daughters on the south. And there is every reason to suppose that they were done from the life. They were probably the work of the best painter belonging to the royal establishment, and were certainly executed with the richest colours, an exquisite finish, and heightened with a profusion of the finest leaf-gold and silver. After the time when the chapel had been transferred to the service of Parliament, and the walls were concealed by woodwork, plaster, and tapestry, the very existence of these paintings seems to have been forgotten; and it was only on the occasion of enlarging the House of Commons for the accommodation of the Irish Members in 1800 that these valuable relics were discovered. On the 12th of August, 1800, these ancient paint * ings were once more exposed to the light. But the haste with which the carpenters' work had to be carried on, in order to secure completion for the opening of Parliament, prevented a satisfactory examination or even removal of any of the more important portions; and they were speedily covered over and closed up again. A few careful tracings and elaborate copies in water-colours had been taken from them; but only in part, and unfortunately very hurriedly. The calamitous fire which broke out and consumed the Houses of Parliament in 1834 entirely destroyed these valuable works of art. It is, however, a fortunate circumstance that carefully-studied transcripts were secured from the paintings at the east end of the chapel at this juncture. Elaborate copies of them, in colours, with complete facsimiles of the original gilding and silvering upon the armour and metal ornaments, were commenced by Mr. Smirke for the Society of Antiquaries, which, together with his original tracings, are still preserved in the Society's apartments at Somerset House. Mr. J. T. Smith also, in his "Antiquities of Westminster," published many valuable sketches and records of these same paintings. His observations also, made on the spot, at the same time, afford valuable corrections, and a supplement to Mr. Smirke's laborious undertaking. Advancing to the next reign, we recognise two * See Smith's "Antiquities of Westminster," pages vi. and viii. of the Preface. Outlines from Mr. Smirke's drawings were published in a folio volume by the Society of Antiquaries, with illustrative text by Sir Henry Englefield. The engravings were published in 1805. 1377-99. specially interesting examples of regal portraiture. Richard II. Both represent King Richard II., in royal robes and in full state. The one, a small highly-finished miniature, in profile, hereafter to be described,* and now preserved at Wilton House; the other, an almost colossal figure of the king on his throne, which has in recent years been deposited in the Jerusalem Chamber, Westmin- A.D. 1390. ster. Its original position was in the choir of the Abbey; and we may now hope that, since the pure and genuine picture has been recovered from beneath repeated coatings, not merely of dirt, but of dense layers of false painting, the portrait may once more be restored to the place for which it appears to have been intended. 1509-47. The earliest documentary record we possess of the Hen. VIII. royal pictures, as a collection, belongs to the period of Henry VIII., and is to be met with in a catalogue or inventory of "painted tables" or pictures, occupying several folio pages of a ponderous volume containing "An account of the king's money, jewels, plate, utensils, apparel, wardrobe stuffs, goods, and chattels, consigned to the care of Sir Anthony Denny at Westminster." This volume is now deposited in the Record Office. Many other pages are devoted to a very interesting list of King Henry's books. The date of this inventory is April 24th, "the 34th year of our reign" (1542). The account of the pictures in it extends from pages 53 to *See page 346. See also "The Fine Arts Quarterly Review," New Series, for January, 1867, page 32. †This picture was No. 7 of the National Portrait Exhibition at South Kensington, and has since that time become the subject of a most remarkable restoration. See Appendix. ster Palace. Westmin 60; and from these Records, notwithstanding that the 1542-7. descriptions are barren in the extreme and entirely deficient in measurements, a considerable amount of curious and valuable information may be derived. The pictures may be broadly classed under three heads; namely, 1. Portraits; 2. Religious subjects; and 3. "Historical Descriptions," including maps of particular localities. The second division contains principally various representations of the Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus, Holy Families attended by saints, who, in the absence of any specification of the emblems pertaining to them, or any incidental allusion to their names, are removed beyond all possibility of recognition. In the British Museum is preserved a similar A.D. 1547. inventory, made after the King's death, of the "late King's" property, taken "by vertue of a Commission under the greate Seale of England, bearing date at Westminster the viij. day of September, in the first year of our Sovereyne Lord Edwarde the Sixte " (1547). As this volume, being five years later, contains some two or three additional pictures, probably painted expressly for the King during the interval, I prefer to make my extracts from that volume. Here, again, no measurements are given; but some few are distinguished from the rest by being designated as great Tables," "whole stature," "Little Tables," and "Tables like a book with folding leaves." A superior value is also to be inferred in those cases where curtains to protect them are mentioned. Thus, many of the pictures have, in addition to the brief record of their subject, the following almost unvarying form:-" With |