Sir Thomas Lucy III of Charlecote (1585-1640) with his wife Alice Spencer and family, painted originally by Cornelius Johnson around 1625. The painting in oil on canvas, hangs at Charlecote in Warwickshire, the ancestral home of the Lucy family and may be a copy of a destroyed original. This painting in turn was copied circa 1745 at a reduced size, probably for Bridget Lucy, one of the daughters in the painting. The painting shows only seven of their children (they eventually had thirteen). The eldest boy on the left, Spencer Lucy, is probably around twelve years of age. Cornelius Johnson (1593-1661) the artist of the original painting was born of Flemish parents living in London. He is considered the most important native English portraitist of the early 17th century and was patronized by James I and Charles I. He probably trained in Holland before opening up his London practice in 1618. He remained in England until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1643 when he returned to Holland; working there until his death in 1661. His output includes several hundred portraits of subjects from English upper society. Return to Lucy Arms and Full Pedigree Chart 950-1900

Published by Norman Lucey
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