Arnold the Painter (1565) Sold at Auction Prices

Arnold Bronckhorst (Flemish, 1565-1583) - Portrait of Oliver St John, 1st Baron of Bletsoe signed and dated 15

Arnold Bronckhorst (Flemish, Active 1565-1583) Portrait of Oliver St John, 1st Baron St John of Bletso (1520-1582), wearing a Conical Hat and White Ruff signed and dated "A Bronckhorst fecit 1578" centre right, running vertically oil on panel h:47 w:39 cm Provenance: By descent from the sitter in the St John family to the Lady Luke (the Hon. Laura St John), who married George Lawson Johnston, in 1902, 1st Baron Luke (mother-in-law of the late owner). (The painting appears to have left the house for approx two months to go to Christie's where it was bought back by the family - Christie's London, 27 May 1955 Lot 19 (as Key ?), The Property of a Gentleman) Portrait of Oliver St. John, 1st Baron Bletso, in dark embroidered doublet, white ruff and black hat – on panel – 18 1/2 in. by 15 in Sold for £27.6.0) Exhibited: The Elizabethan Image, The Tate Gallery, London, 27.11.69 to 8.2.70 , No.52 The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Loan Exhibition for the Edinburgh Festival, 1975. Literature: E Auerbach, Some Tudor Portraits at the Royal Academy, Burlington Magazine, XCIX, 1957, p.10 E Auerbach, Nicholas Hilliard, 1961, pp. 266-67 Other Notes: The barony of St John of Bletso, in the County of Bedford, created for Oliver St John in 1558 had a curious pre-history which linked its holder with some of the most powerful families in the kingdom. Oliver St John was a descendent of Sir John Oliver St John of Bletso (d. 1437), the husband of Margaret, great-great-granddaughter of Roger de Beauchamp (d. 1380), who was summoned to Parliament as Baron Beauchamp of Bletso from 1363 to 1379. Following the death of her first husband Margaret Beauchamp married John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset. Her daughter by this marriage was Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, who married Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, and became the mother of Henry VII of England. Oliver St John, 1st Baron St John of Bletsoe was therefore a kinsman of Lady Margaret Beaufort. He was born by 1522 and made his career in Parliament and in Bedford politics. He was returned to Parliament as one of the knights of Bedford in 1547, held a position in the household of Prince Edward, served as High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire in 1551, as a magistrate from 1554, and from 1560 to 1569 as Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire. He seems not to have returned to Parliament in 1552, devoting himself primarily to country affairs. In both national and Bedfordshire county affairs St John consistently demonstrated his allegiance to Queen Elizabeth from the outset. His reward was his elevation to the peerage in 1558 as Baron St John of Bletso, in the County of Bedford. His claims to a peerage were no doubt strengthened by the fact that he was regarded as heir of the line to the barony of Beauchamp of Bletso, though that title had been extinct since Roger de Beauchamp's death in 1380. Little is known about Oliver St John's later career, though he served at the trial of the Duke of Norfolk in 1571-2. By 1543, he had married Agnes Fisher, through whom he inherited considerable property in the Midlands. His second wife Elizabeth brought him further wealth, since two of her three previous husbands had provided generously for her. On his death in 1582, his successor was his son, John St John. The 2nd Baron St John was one of the peers who sat during the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. He had no sons and was succeeded by his younger brother, Oliver St John, in 1596. In 1618, the barony passed to the latter's son John, who was created 1st Earl of Bolingbroke in 1624. In the opinion of Sir Roy Strong in a letter to the late owner's husband dated 1975 this portrait : " ... is unique for being the only fully signed work by this extremely obscure Elizabethan artist". Arnold Bronckhorst (Flemish 1565-1583) was a painter from the Netherlands who became Court Painter to James VI of Scotland. Arnold Bronckhorst came to London from the Netherlands, working at first with the English painter and miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard. Together they went to Scotland to procure gold for use in Hilliard's miniatures. Although unsuccessful in obtaining warrants to export gold from Scotland, Bronckhorst was appointed on recommendation of the Earl of Morton (circa 1525-1581) - Regent of Scotland from 1572-1578, during James VI's minority - to paint portraits of the young King and his Court. In 1581 Bronckhorst was appointed Painter to the King, the first such appointment in Scotland, and given a yearly pension of £100. Bronckhorst later painted Morton, George Buchanan, the historian and poet, and the Earl of Arran. Royal letters, and account entries, from this time describe him as a "Flemyng". Bronckhorst returned to London in 1583 where he disappeared from public life, succeeded as Court Painter in Scotland by another Flemish artist, Adrian Vanson. Bronckhorst may have been the 'Aart Van Bronkhurst' arrested at Dover in September 1585 as a follower of the French ambassador Michel de Castelnau. Only one signed and dated portrait by Bronckhorst survives; the present portrait of the English sitter Sir Oliver St John of Bletso. We are grateful to Dr Joachim Whaley for his help with the catalogue entry.