Monday 8 June 2009

Van Dyck at Petworth

We took Bea to Petworth House after lunch to see the art collection, which is the jewel in the National Trust’s crown. And what a collection, major artists including twenty Van Dyck & Turners commissioned by Petworth’s owners. Managed half the collection before weariness set in. One room covered by Grinling Gibbons carvings including the ceiling. My favourite painting was Van Dyck’s “Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, Lady Anne Cecil and their daughter, Lady Katherine Percy”. The 10th Earl held high office under Charles I, opposed him during the Civil War and founded the Petworth art collection by patronising Van Dyck and buying Old Masters. This was a good day to visit, not too many people, weather cool.

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