The paintings owned by the Society of Antiquaries of London are important for the quality of some of the individual paintings and for the collection as a whole. Before England's National Portrait Gallery was founded, the Society pioneered the study of royal portraiture, seeking to establish the true likenesses of the Tudor and Plantagent monarchs and some of their continental counterparts. In the words of Sir Roy Strong, the Society's early portraits are 'of the utmost national importance ... next to the Royal Collection, the most important series of early sixteenth-century royal portraits to survive as a group'.
They are joined in this scholarly catalogue raisonée by works that have been exhibited in Europe's major museums: among them are Hans Eworth's portrait of Mary I, Simone dei Crocifissi's Dream of the Virgin, an outstanding example of fourteenth-century Bolognese Gothic art now on long-term loan to the National Gallery, and portraits of Daniel and Rebecca Minet by Thomas Gainsborough.
This fully illustrated catalogue, wedded to meticulous scholarship and the results of the latest scientific dating techniques, ensures that the art historical world now has access to art that will be studied and discussed for many years to come.
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