Gerlach Flicke Latin name Gerbarus Fleccius, and at least once referred to as "Garlicke", was a German portrait painter who is known for his work 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...

 as an artist of the Tudor court

Artists of the Tudor court

The artists of the Tudor court are the painters and limners engaged by the monarchs of England's Tudor dynasty and their courtiers between 1485 and 1603, from the reign of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I....

. Flicke was imprisoned in London and he made a portrait miniature

Portrait miniature

A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolour, or enamel.Portrait miniatures began to flourish in 16th century Europe and the art was practiced during the 17th century and 18th century...

 whilst there. This painting is the earliest self-portrait

Self-portrait

A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 15th century that artists can be frequently identified depicting...

  in oils made in England.

Biography

Flicke was born in the German town of Osnabrück

Osnabrück

Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...

, but is first recorded as a portrait painter in England. He arrived in London in about 1545 where he presented himself as an heir to Hans Holbein

Hans Holbein the Younger

Hans Holbein the Younger was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made a significant contribution to the history...

, who had died in 1543. Flicke was signing his works with a Latinised name and adding Germanus to emphasise his German training. Flicke limned portraits of Mary I

Mary I of England

Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

.

One of Flicke's finest paintings, made around 1551, was probably a full-length portrait of Lord Darcy, with the legend Portrait of Thomas, First Lord Darcy of Chiche. That painting was last seen in 1848 at Irnham Hall, Lincolnshire, and has not been seen since.

In 1554 he was imprisoned in London, where he made friends with the privateer Henry Strangwish. Why Flicke was imprisoned is not known but Strangwish was there because of his piracy. Flicke may have been a victim of the persecution of Protestants by Mary I of England

Mary I of England

Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

 from 1553.
The double portrait of Strangwish and Flicke is remarkable for a number of reasons. The portraits are both miniatures, less than four inches high. The self-portrait of Flicke, the earliest known self-portrait in oils painted in England, has a Latin inscription that may be translated, Such was the face of Gerlach Flicke when he was a painter in the City of London. This, he himself painted from a looking glass for his dear friends. So that they might have something to remember him after his death.

Flicke's best-known painting is possibly that of Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...

, dated 1545, which is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Flicke died in the London parish of St Giles-without-Cripplegate

St Giles-without-Cripplegate

St Giles-without-Cripplegate is a Church of England church in the City of London, located within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to St Giles, patron saint of beggars and cripples...

on 24 January 1558. He left his goods to a servant in Osnabruck, which suggests that was his home town.