[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF KING JAMES I. _By_ HOSKINS, AFTER VAN SOMER. _From a Miniature in Windsor Castle._]
The first Englishman of high degree who collected works of art in the manner to which we apply the phrase, was the Earl of Arundel, who was followed by Prince Henry, son of James I. The accession of Charles I. marks a new and bright period in the history of English painting. Walpole, in his "Anecdotes of Painting," speaking of Charles I., says, not very accurately, "The accession of this Prince was the first era of real taste in England. As his temper was not profuse, the money he expended on his collections, and the rewards he bestowed on men of true genius, are proofs of his judgment. He knew how and where to bestow." The King was not only a patron of art, but an artist. We are told by Gilpin that Charles "had singular skill in limning, and was a good judge of pictures." Another authority states that he often amused himself by drawing and designing. Charles inherited pictures which had been collected by Henry VIII. and Prince Henry, all of which were scattered in the different royal palaces. To these works, one hundred and fifty in all, the King added a vast number of valuable examples. The manuscript catalogue, left incomplete by Vanderdoort, the keeper of the royal galleries, mentions 497 pictures at Whitehall, including 28 by Titian, 9 by Raphael, 11 by Correggio, 11 by Holbein, 16 by Giulio Romano, 7 by Parmigiano, 7 by Rubens, 7 by Tintoretto, 3 by Rembrandt, 16 by Van Dyck, 4 by Paolo Veronese, and 2 by Leonardo da Vinci.[F] Charles bought, in 1627, the collection of paintings belonging to the Duke of Mantua for £18,280 12s. 8d.; and many foreign courts made presents of rare and valuable pictures to the King of England. The good example of their master was followed by some of the nobility, and the Duke of Buckingham, the Earl of Somerset, the Earl of Pembroke, and the Earl of Arundel were liberal patrons of art. The last made a noble collection of statues and drawings; some of the latter are in the British Museum; many of the sculptures are at Oxford. Charles vainly invited Albani to visit England, but in 1629 RUBENS arrived as a confidential diplomatic representative of the Archduchess Isabella, Infanta of Spain, and was induced to remain for about nine months. The King delighted to honour the great painter, and made him a knight. During his stay in England, Rubens, among other works, painted his allegoric picture of _Peace and War_ (National Gallery); _St. George_ (Buckingham Palace); the _Assumption of the Blessed Virgin_, for the Earl of Arundel; and the designs for the ceiling of Whitehall. The influence from this brief sojourn was very marked, and it was followed by that of--