Remigius van Leemput, known in England simply as Remee, (19 December 1607 – 4 November 1675) was a Flemish portrait painter,

copyist A copyist is a person that makes duplications of the same thing. The term is sometimes used for artists who make copies of other artists' paintings. However, the modern use of the term is almost entirely confined to music copyists, who are emplo ...

, collector and art dealer mainly active in England.Richard Jeffree. "Leemput , Remi van." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 19 Nov. 2014

Life

Remigius van Leemput - Henry Hyde, Viscount Cornbury and Theodosia, Viscountess Cornbury

Van Leemput was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. He is believed to have moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

around 1632. He was a close associate of

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...

and may have assisted this Flemish master in his studio. He produced copies of van Dyck’s work and later also of other painters such as

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...

. Van Leemput is said to have claimed that he could copy Lely better than Lely could himself. He may have been an assistant of Lely at some point. Van Leemput gained a prominent position in the London art world. He became an art dealer and a major collector of paintings and drawings. After the execution of

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after ...

in 1649, his art collection was broken up and sold off in order to repay the debtors of the former king. Van Leemput was active as a buyer of artworks sold off from the royal collection. He acquired 35 paintings and sculptures from the sale of the collection over a period of six months. He purchased works from

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

, Giorgione, Correggio and

Andrea del Sarto Andrea del Sarto (, , ; 16 July 1486 – 29 September 1530) was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. He was known as an outstanding fresco decorator, painter of altar-pieces ...

. He was able to acquire the famous equestrian portrait by van Dyck of '' Charles I with M. de St Antoine''. He tried to sell the painting in Antwerp but was unsuccessful because his asking price of 1,500 guineas was too high. It is possible that he was in fact trying to sell a copy of the portrait he had made himself. After the Restoration in 1660, the painting was still with him. It was recovered from him for Charles II through legal proceedings. His son Giovanni Remigio later became a copyist in Rome, and his daughter Mary also became an artist and married Thomas Streater, the brother of the artist Robert Streater. Remigius van Leemput died in London.

Work

Remigius van Leemput is known for his original works as well as for his small-scale copies after van Dyck, Lely and others. He made a series of portraits of Ladies after van Dyck, Lely and

Samuel Cooper Samuel or Sam Cooper may refer to: *Samuel Cooper (painter) (1609–1672), English miniature painter *Samuel Cooper (clergyman) (1725–1783), Congregationalist minister in Boston, Massachusetts * Samuel Cooper (surgeon) (1780–1848), English surge ...

. The series are bust portraits based on (often full-length) portraits by these other painters. They are part of the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

. He also made a copy of Lely’s double portrait of Henry Hyde, Viscount Cornbury and Theodosia, Viscountess Cornbury. In 1667 Charles II commissioned van Leemput to make a small copy of the wall painting by

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Jüngere; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest por ...

representing Henry VII, Elizabeth of York,

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

and

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...

at the Palace of Whitehall in London. Van Leemput received a fee of £150 for the copy. Van Leemput painted another copy of the mural in 1669 ( Petworth House, Petworth,

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

). The two copies are the only records of Holbein’s entire composition, destroyed by fire in 1698 after a maid left her washing to dry before an open fire. Holbein's original draft cartoon for the left half of the composition is in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

Portraits

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leemput, Remigius van Flemish Baroque painters Flemish portrait painters Artists from Antwerp 1607 births 1675 deaths Art collectors from Antwerp Belgian expatriates in England