Portrait of Catherine, Lady Brooke C.1643; Atributed to Theodore Russell

A fine quality oil on panel in a 17th century frame, sensitively depicting the attractive young sitter. She wears mourning for her husband, recently killed in the Civil War, and holds flowers before her breast, these represent the fleeting and fragile nature of life. Amongst them seems to be Pink Laurel which, with its associations of honour and triumph and its Christian association with eternal life, would be appropriate.

CATHERINE GREVILLE, LADY BROOKE (Baroness Brooke of Beauchamps Court) was born Lady Catherine Russell and was the daughter of Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford (later Duke). She married Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke of Beauchamps Court c.1630. They had three children, all male, who became the 3rd, 4th and 5th Barons. She died in 1676, thirty three years after her husband's death.

Robert Greville (1607-1643) was MP for Warwick in 1628, and was involved in the foundation of Saybrooke in Conecticut.

During the Civil War he gained the rank of Colonel in 1642, fighting at the Battle of Edgehill in the Regiment of Foot. Promoted to Major-General, he commanded Parliament's forces in Warwickshire and Staffordshire and was looked on as the Earl of Essex's successor.

Greville took Stratford-on-Avon from the Royalists in February 1643 and advanced on the city of Lichfield. He was shot dead by a Royalist sniper from the tower of Lichfield Cathedral. His death was a serious blow for Parliament. John Milton eulogised him as a 'friend of toleration'. He has an extensive entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.

THEODORE RUSSELL (1614-1689)

Aliases: Theodore Rousel; Theodore Rousseel; Theodore Roussel; Theodore Russel.

Born in London, his father, Nicasius, was a goldsmith and jeweller, who left Bruges for England about 1573 and settled in the parish of St Anne, Blackfriars, London; his second wife, Theodore’s mother, was the sister of Cornelis Jonson van Ceulen.

The Russells were connected with the Gheeraerts, de Critz and Oliver families. Theodore’s son, Anthony Russell, who provided George Vertue with information concerning 17th-century artists, stated that Theodore had studied under Jonson and van Dyck, had been employed by such patrons as the 3rd Earl of Essex and the 1st Earl of Holland, and ‘was a lover of ease & his Bottle’

Signed portraits by him are rare. A set of five bust-length portraits at Knebworth House, Herts, includes a male portrait, signed and dated 1644. They are sensitive works in the manner of Jonson.

SIZE: 15 x 11.25 inches panel

25 x 21 inches inc. frame

PROVENANCE:

*The Dukes of Manchester, Kimbolton Castle. (The conection probably being that Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, was also a Major-General in the Parliamentarian army in 1643).

*Sold in 1949 Messrs. Knight, Frank and Rutler, First Day's Sale at Kimbolton Castle, 18 July, lot 112, apparently for £950 (see verso).Image 6.

*The Lady King of Wartnaby (Hon. Isabel Cynthia Monckton-Arundel, daughter of the 8th Viscount Galway, ran a very successful interior design company prior to her marriage. Born in 1926, she died in 2010.)

Verso: several old labels and a stencil "Kimbolton Castle Heirloom 111".

An image of this portrait is used in the entry for Lady Catherine Russell on www.thePeerage.com.