Richard Gibson (1615-90)
Portrait of a lady, possibly Anne Vere, Lady Fairfax (c. 1618-1665) c.1655-60
Vellum laid on card | 7.2 x 5.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 420077
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When this miniature was purchased for the Royal Collection in the nineteenth-century, it was acquired with two other miniatures stated to represent General Fairfax and his family. The miniature appears to be related to a work attributed to Gerard Soest, known from an engraving by Charles Turner of 1811, and the comparison supports the identification of the sitter as Anne, fourth daughter of Baron Vere of Tilbury, who married, in 1637, Thomas, third Baron Fairfax of Cameron.
At the time of its acquisition for the Royal Collection, no attribution was given to the miniature, but it has since been recognised as a work by Richard Gibson painted c.1655-60. Gibson, who was a dwarf, started his career as a page, but progressed to become King's Limner to Charles II in 1672, enjoying generous patronage from Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and his grandson Charles, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon. In appointing Gibson to an official role at his court, Charles II may have been mindful of the work which Gibson had done for his father, producing limned copies of old master paintings in Charles I's collection.Provenance
Purchased by Queen Victoria in 1856 from J.A. Hatfield
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Vellum laid on card
Measurements
7.2 x 5.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
8.4 x 7.1 cm (frame, external)
Other number(s)
Reynolds 1999 : Reynolds, G., 1999. The Sixteenth & Seventeenth Century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, London – Reynolds 1999 134Cust 1910 : Cust, L., 1910. Windsor Castle: Portrait Miniatures, London – Cust 1910 II/101RL 1870 50 A.3.