Arnold Bronckorst
Encyclopedia
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
1565–1583) was a painter of Netherlandish
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
origin who was court painter
Court painter
A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Especially in the late Middle Ages, they were often given the office of valet de chambre...
to James VI of Scotland.
According to a later source, Bronckorst first appears in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, associated with English painter Nicholas Hilliard
Nicholas Hilliard
Nicholas Hilliard was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some larger cabinet miniatures, up to about ten inches tall, and at least two famous...
, when they went to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
on business concerned with gold mining
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
, meeting Regent Morton. Although unsuccessful in obtaining warrants for the export of gold, he was hired by Morton to paint portraits of the young king (later James I of England) and later painted Morton, George Buchanan
George Buchanan
George Buchanan may refer to:*George Buchanan , Scottish humanist*Sir George Buchanan , Scottish soldier during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms*Sir George Buchanan , Chief Medical Officer...
, and the Earl of Arran. According to the inventories of the Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
, he had a portrait of the 'young king of Scots' in 1580, which may have been another copy of this picture. Leicester sent his own portrait to James VI, painted on canvas by Hubbard in 1583.
Arnold was paid £130 Scots for portraits of James VI in April 1580. The sittings for these pictures by the "Flemish painter" at Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
in difficult political circumstances were mentioned in an English letter. By September 1580, Arnold had completed a half and full length of the king and a portrait of George Buchanan for £64.
After receiving £46 for portaits of James on 6 September 1581, on 19 September 1581 Arnold was appointed to the post of King's Painter, the first such appointment in Scotland. Royal letters, and account entries, from this time describe him as a flemyng
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. Bronckorst returned to London in 1583 where he disappears from view. He was succeeded as court painter in Scotland by another Flemish artist, Adrian Vanson, who was subsequently appointed King's Painter.
One portrait signed and dated 1578 by Bronckorst survives; the English sitter Sir Oliver St John of Bletso
Baron St John of Bletso
Baron St John of Bletso, in the County of Bedford, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1582 for Oliver St John.For a period, the title Baron St John was subsumed within the title Earl of Bolingbroke which was granted to the fourth Baron. The Earldom died out with the third Earl,...
, was the father of a reluctant keeper and juror of Mary Queen of Scots.
External links
- Biography at the National Galleries of ScotlandNational Galleries of ScotlandThe National Galleries of Scotland are the five national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries. It is one of the country's National Collections.-List of national galleries:* The National Gallery of Scotland* The Royal Scottish Academy Building...
(accessed 28 September 2007) - MacDonald, Alexander, 'A Short Notice of Arnold Bronckhorst', in, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of ScotlandSociety of Antiquaries of ScotlandThe Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body in Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh...
/Archaeologica Scotica, vol. 3, (1831) pp. 312–313.