Portrait of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel
Anthony van Dyck·1620
Historical Context
This portrait of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel from around 1620, in the Getty Museum, depicts the greatest English art collector of the early 17th century. Arundel's collection of classical antiquities and Old Master paintings helped shape English taste and influenced Van Dyck himself. Van Dyck's portraits defined aristocratic self-presentation across Europe, his elongated elegance and atmospheric painting technique establishing a model for formal portraiture that dominated British art until the nineteenth century.
Technical Analysis
Van Dyck renders the collector with dignified authority, using the pointing gesture and the glimpse of the Arundel collection to establish his patron's identity as a man of cultural sophistication.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the pointing gesture and glimpse of the Arundel collection establishing the sitter's identity as a man of cultural sophistication at the Getty.
- ◆Look at the dignified authority with which Van Dyck renders the greatest English art collector of the early 17th century.
- ◆Observe Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, whose collection of classical antiquities and Old Master paintings helped shape English taste.
