Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 1 (of 2)Howitt, William
History
Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Howitt, William
Literary landmarks -- Great Britain; Poets, English -- Homes and haunts
On the staircase is one of the four well-known equestrian Charles the
Firsts, by Vandyck, the horse by Stone, one of which is at Hampton
Court, and another at Warwick Castle. Opposite to it is a full-length
figure of Anne of Austria, queen of France, by Mignard.
In the drawing-room, a full-length figure of a lady, labeled as Lady
Isabel Thynne, daughter of the Earl of Holland, has a bit of paper stuck
behind it by some artist, stating that at Knowle there is a precisely
similar picture marked as Lady Frances Grenfield, daughter of the Earl
of Middleton, and fifth Countess of Dorset; as well as a copy of it,
likewise, at Knowle. Next to this is a singular picture, which might be
one of Lely's, but bears no name of the artist. There is an exact
fac-simile of it at Penshurst. It contains two half-length figures of
Lady Lucy Percy, countess of Carlisle, and Lady Dorothy Percy, countess
of Leicester, two of the most flattered and remarkable women of the day,
and the latter the mother of Algernon Sidney; next is the Duke of
Northumberland, their father, by Lely; and full-lengths of the
unfortunate Arabella Stuart, a very pretty and interesting-looking
woman, and Rich, earl of Holland, by Vandyck. On the opposite side of
the room are the Countess of Warwick, Addison's wife, by Kneller, in a
bright blue dress. She is here represented as decidedly handsome, having
a high, broad forehead, dark hair falling in natural ringlets, and with
a sweet expression of countenance. To her right is her son, Lord
Warwick, as a boy of twelve or fourteen years old, also in a light blue
dress, and red scarf, by Dahl. On her left is a head of Lord Kensington,
by Lely. A mother and daughter in two separate pictures, supposed to be
by Lely; and the Earl of Warwick again as a boy.
Within the small department of the room we find a half-length of Addison
himself, also in light blue, which seems the almost universal color of
Kneller's drapery. He appears here about forty years of age, his figure
fuller, and the countenance more fleshy and less spiritual than in
either of the portraits at Holland House and Northwick. Besides this,
there is another portrait of the Earl of Warwick, by Kneller, as a young
man; a head of Gustavus Adolphus, by Meirveldt; and, lastly, of the
heiress of the house, Miss Addison herself. She is here a child, nor is
there any one of her of a later age. If this portrait of her was done
during Addison's life, it must have been represented as older than she
really was; she could not be much more than two, and here she appears at
least five years of age. It is a full length. The child stands by a
table, on which is a basket of flowers, and she holds a pink flower in
her hand against her bosom. She has the air of an intelligent child,
and, as usual, wears one of Kneller's light blue draperies, with a
lace-bordered apron, and stomacher of the same.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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