VHP 000-000-000-097-L

Copy of the Note of the pictures and paintings belonging to the Right Honourable Lord Marquis Hamilton deceased delivered to my Lord Duke according to my Lord Marquis his warrant of the 14th of March 1624 (1625 by the modern calendar)

This is a copy of the earliest existing inventory of paintings in the Hamilton Collection and is therefore of importance, showing as it does that the 2nd Marquis was himself a significant early collector of Italian paintings. Its purpose and date have been interpreted in different ways. The document might simply be a list of pictures received by James, 3rd Marquis, later 1st Duke of Hamilton, from his father, James, 2nd Marquis of Hamilton (died 2 March 1625).

An alternative theory is that the copy dates from 1625 (by the modern calendar) and was addressed to another Duke, in this case George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628). The list may therefore have been drawn up as a list of paintings for selection by Buckingham and may not include all the pictures in Hamilton's collection at that date. Lady Mary Feilding, the 3rd Marquis's wife was daughter of Buckingham's sister Susan who was married to Lord Feilding, created Earl of Denbigh in 1622.The list was probably part of a sale arranged by the 2nd Marquis before his sudden death in 1625, or it might even have been a legacy from him to Buckingham. Whatever its function, five of the items listed here are found in Buckingham inventories of 1635 and 1648.

Hamilton probably built his collection from scratch between 1617 and 1625.Contemporary accounts mention his collection within the context of the four other great collectors of the period - Prince Charles (crowned Charles 1 in 1625), the Duke of Buckingham, and the Earls of Pembroke and Arundel. He might have originally acquired a taste for collecting when he travelled to Italy in 1610. In Venice he gained permission through the Senate to visit the state's Treasury and Armoury and he may have been supplied pictures by Sir Henry Wotton the English ambassador through whom he was presented to the Doge. The collection reflects a strong Venetian interest and contains works by Palma Vecchio, Bassano, Contarini, Pordenone, Tintoretto, Schiavone, Corregio, Veronese, Bolognese, and Palma Giovane.

Note on transcription;
The artists' names have been checked against the online indexes of the National Gallery, London and the National Maritime Museum, London, and modernised where possible. Those names which have not been found are transcribed in their original form.

Words added and information supplied by the transcriber are in square brackets. A query within square brackets indicates that the comment is speculative.

Minor deletions on the original manuscript have not been included.

The word 'of' before the name of an artist means 'by' and is usually preceded by a semi colon in this modernised transcript, e.g. '; of Old Palma' means '; by Old Palma'.

The word 'piece' as in 'A piece of the Samaritan' means 'picture'.