Manner of Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (Flemish, 1561/1562-1636)

Provenance:

Christie's, South Kensington, 2 December 1981, Lot 335

Literature:

Barrett-Lennard, Thomas. An Account of the Families of Lennard and Barrett, 1908

Stephan Edwards, J. "A Life Framed in Portraits: An Early Portrait of Mary Neville Fiennes, Lady Dacre," vol. 14 (The British Art Journal, 2013), no. 2, pp. 14-20

Note:

Margaret Fiennes (1541-1612) (alternatively spelled Fienes and Fynes, among other iterations) was the daughter of Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre, and Mary Neville.[1] Her mother was descended from King Edward III through both of her parents, and the Fiennes were an ancient family of French extraction who were established members of the Tudor royal court.[2] Margaret's father Thomas, for example, was summoned to be a member of the jury during the trial of Anne Boleyn and Lord Rocheford.[3] Upon the death of her brother Gregory, Margaret and her husband Sampson Lennard inherited Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex, the ancient seat of the Dacre family.[4] They had at least eight children, according to baptism records, and were ultimately interred in a grand alabaster tomb with carved life-size effigies at St. Botolph's Church in Chevening.[5]

[1] Thomas Barrett-Lennard, An Account of the Families of Lennard and Barrett, 1908, p. 152

[2] J. Stephan Edwards, “A Life Framed in Portraits: An Early Portrait of Mary Neville Fiennes, Lady Dacre,” vol. 14 (The British Art Journal, 2013), no. 2, p. 14

[3] Thomas Barrett-Lennard, An Account of the Families of Lennard and Barrett, 1908, p. 194

[4] J. Stephan Edwards, “A Life Framed in Portraits: An Early Portrait of Mary Neville Fiennes, Lady Dacre,” vol. 14 (The British Art Journal, 2013), no. 2, p. 15

[5] Thomas Barrett-Lennard, An Account of the Families of Lennard and Barrett, 1908, p. 239