Anthony van Dyck: Thomas Howard, The Earl of Arundel

Christopher White

Anthony van Dyck's portrait of Thomas Howard was made during the artist's first visit to London and marked the beginning of his brilliant international career. Thomas Howard, a prominent member of the court of James I, was to become one of the greatest and most enlightened collectors and patrons England has ever known.

This probing study provides a history both of Thomas Howard, and of van Dyck, whose canvases established the grand tradition of portraiture both in England and on the Continent. The illustrated volume offers not only a complete study of a great painting but also a primer on how great collections are formed and great careers are launched.

Christopher White, director of Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum, is professor of the art of the Netherlands at the University. He is the author of numerous books on Dutch and Flemish art, including the two-volume study Rembrandt as an Etcher; Durer: The Artist and His Drawings; Dutch Paintings in the Collections of Her Majesty the Queen; and Peter Paul Rubens: Man and Artist.