Offered by Galerie William Diximus
Large and imposing full-length portrait of Captain Joseph Poole of Sykehouse (late 17th early eighteenth death in 1704) in front of Pontefract Castle England.
The impressive full-length portrait in armor features Captain Joseph Poole of Sykehouse (who died in 1704) whose destiny is linked to the demolition of Pontefract Castle in 1649 during the Second Civil War. Theater of major events in English history, it is within its walls that Richard was imprisoned and then murdered two centuries earlier; a tragic episode immortalized by William Shakespeare.
The provenance of this portrait is equally remarkable. After the sale of the painting at Christie's on June 1, 1928 in London, he belongs to the well-known two-century-old executive manufacturing company Mr. Grieve Company, based in the British capital and New York. He then entered the collection of the Higgins Armory Museum which gathered on the American territory specimens of arms and armor like the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of New York before its transfer to the Worcester Art Museum in 2014.
Our painting offers a rare painted representation of Pontefract Castle inspired by the engravings disseminated in the 18th century by learned societies of local history. Built by Ibert de Lacy on land granted by William the Conqueror in West Yorkshire England around 1086, Pontefract Castle passes to the Lancaster House in 1311 and becomes a royal residence when the son, and heir of John of Ghent is crowned king under the name of Henry IV in 1399. The castle of Pontefract is then greatly enlarged in the first half of the fifteenth century and becomes, in the following century, one of the largest fortresses in England . The latter is recognizable by its multilobed keep and its triumphal gateway. He was considered by Oliver Cromwell, leader of the defenders of the English Parliament opponents of King Charles I of England, as "one of the strongest internal garrisons of the kingdom" to eliminate. The changing atmosphere of the sky from blue to purplish pink seems to herald the inexorable disappearance of the fortress, a symbol of royal power in this northern part of England. The bright-eyed, long-haired character is identifiable to the captain of Joseph Poole of Sykehouse, mentioned by a label affixed to the back of the painting on the frame. He is known to have repeatedly risked his life during t ~ natives of climbing walls of Pontefract Castle held by the Royalist army during his last siege.
The attribution of the painting to the Dutch painter Adriaen Hanneman (1603-1671) has continued since the public auction of June 1928 until its entry into the collections of the Higgins Armory Museum (Worcester, Massachusetts). It is explained by the presence in the court of Charles I many portraitists from Holland, such as Van Dyck and Daniel Mytens.
Unframed Dimensions: Length: 83,75 in. Width: 59 in.
Frame dimensions: Length: 93in. Width: 69.75in.
