Entertainment & Arts
Rubens' Duke of Buckingham 'found' after 400 years
2 hours ago
From the BBC section Entertainment & Arts
The 17th century Flemish artist's "head study" of the Duke of Buckingham was identified by
Dr Bendor Grosvenor from BBC Four's Britain's Lost Masterpieces.
He was a controversial figure in the Jacobean era who rose from minor nobility to become one
of the favourites of James I, who was James VI in Scotland.
The nature of their relationship has been the source of much debate.
Some experts claim they were lovers, while others believe it was a close platonic friendship.
Renovation work carried out by English Heritage at Apethorpe Palace in Northamptonshire, one of the king's favourite residences,
revealed a secret passage linking the two men's bedchambers.
The Duke was assassinated in 1628 at the age of just 35, three years after James died.
Overpainting of the background and other areas by a later artist, along with hundreds of years of dust and dirt, had obscured Rubens' work.
But scientific analysis of the wood it was painted on dated it to the 1620s, and found it had been prepared in a way done by Rubens' studio.
Additional cleaning and x-rays of the hair showed it was not a copy but was by the artist himself.
The painting underwent conservation work by restorer Simon Gillespie to return it to its original appearance.
It will return to display at Pollok House.
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