Kenilworth Castle in 1575
Robert Dudley's Kenilworth Art Collection
36. The picture of the Countis Essex, in a wainscot case.
Lettice Knollys (1543-1634) married Viscount Hereford (later Earl of Essex), hosting both the queen and Dudley at Chartley during the 1575 summer progress. In 1578 she married Dudley in a secret ceremony at his home in Wanstead. Her last husband, Sir Christopher Blount, was executed for treason. She is buried in St Mary’s, Warwick, with Dudley.
37. The picture of Occacion and Repentance.
Oil on canvas painting, c1550, of St Mary Magdalene by Tiziano Vecelli, known as Titian. Titian, a versatile and influential Italian painter of the Venetian school, painted the likenesses of princes, cardinals, monks, and other artists, and was compared to Rembrandt and Velázquez. He was aged well over eighty when he died in 1576 of bubonic plague.
38. The picture of the Lord Mowntacute, with a curtaine.
Painting thought to be by Antonis Mor. Anthony Browne was created 1st Viscount Montague in 1554. He was one of the peers who sat at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, despite previously benefitting from her favour. He similarly retained Elizabeth’s favour, despite his opposition to religious reforms, such as the Oath of Supremacy for public office.
39. The picture of Sir James Crofts, with a curtaine.
Sir James Croft (1518-1590) was an MP for Herefordshire, and also became Lord Deputy of Ireland, and Comptroller of the Household. He supported Wyatt’s rebellion in 1554, which opposed Mary’s marriage to Philip of Spain. He has been judged as duplicitous, and was sent to the Tower by both Mary and Elizabeth for treasonable behaviour.
40. The picture of Sir Walter Mildmay.
Sir Walter Mildmay (1520-1589) was Privy Councillor, Chancellor, and Under-Treasurer of the Exchequer to Elizabeth, and founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. This portrait could be by Sarah, Countess of Essex, an amateur artist who specialised in copying sixteenth century portraits, many of the originals of which are now lost.
41. The picture of Sir William Pickering, in clothe, whole proportion.
A likely painting cannot be found; this sketch is from his tomb by Thomas Fisher in 1807. Sir William Pickering (1516-1575), son of a father with the same name and title, served four Sovereigns with distinction in military and civil capacities. The Earl of Arundel is thought to have seen him as a rival for the hand of Elizabeth.
42. The picture of Edwin (Sandys), 2d Archbishop of York, with a curtaine.
Oil on canvas portrait of Edwin Sandy (1519-1588). He was imprisoned in the Tower for his opposition to Mary Tudor, but escaped to Europe. He returned from exile on the ascendency of Elizabeth, becoming Archbishop of York, helping with the translation for a new version of the Bishop’s Bible, and founding Hawkshead Grammar School.
43. A tabell of an historie of men, women, and children, molden in wax.
(Item description too vague to source a likely image.)
