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Robert Dudley's Kenilworth Art Collection

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15.  The picture of the Baker’s Daughter.

This is the famous La Fornarina portrait of Margheritta Luti, a baker’s daughter from Siena, thought to be the last painting by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1483-1520), known as Raphael, one of the great masters of the period along with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.   Possibly seen by Shakespeare, for Hamlet: “The owl was a baker’s daughter”.

16.  Picture of the Duke of Feria, in clothe, whole proportion.

This portrait is of his grandson, the third Duke of the same name.   Don Gómez Suárez de Figueroa y Córdoba (1520-1571) came to England with Phillip II, as ambassador, and was afterwards created the first Duke of Feria in Spain.    He married Jane Dormer (1538-1612) an English lady-in-waiting and niece of Robert Dudley’s brother-in-law Sir Henry Sidney.

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Art 16 Feria.jpg
Art 17 Alexander.jpg
Art 17

17.  The picture of Alexander Magnus, with a curtaine.

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, the son of King Philip II.    He created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, spanning three continents from Greece to India.   Undefeated in battle, he is considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all time.

18.  The pictures of two Yonge Ladyes, with curtaines.

Oil on panel portrait of ladies Penelope and Dorothy Devereux, Robert Dudley’s step-daughters when, in 1578, he married their mother Lettice, the Dowager Countess of Essex.   Penelope married Robert, 3rd Baron Rich, and later Charles Blount, Baron Mountjoy.   Dorothy married Sir Thomas Perrot, and later Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland.

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Art 18
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Art 19

19.  Picture of Pompoea Sabina.

School of Fontainebleau oil on a panel Portrait of Poppaea Sabina, half-length, in a transparent veil, in front of a stone cartouche.   According to Cassius Dio, Poppaea enjoyed having milk baths.    She would have them daily because she was once told "therein lurked a magic which would dispel all diseases and blights from her beauty."

20.  Picture of Pompoea Sabina.

Poppaea Sabina (30-65 AD) was born in Pompeii, and first married the then leader of the Praetorian Guard at the age of 14 years.   She then married a younger man, before becoming Nero’s mistress.   Ultimately becoming a Roman Empress as the second wife of the Emperor Nero, she was given a state funeral, divine honours, and was entombed.

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Art 21

21.  The picture of Frederick Duke of Saxony, without frame and curtaine.

Johann Frederick ‘the Magnanimous’ (1503-1554), Elector of Saxony, a friend and protector of Martin Luther and the Reformation.   He was wounded and captured in battle in 1547, and exiled and condemned to death by Charles V.   His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, but he was later released by his successor and cousin, Maurice of Saxony.

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