Lot 41: PROPERTY SOLD BY ORDER OF HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF HAMILTON AND BRANDON JOHANN VOSTERMAN C.1643-1690S

PROPERTY SOLD BY ORDER OF HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF HAMILTON AND BRANDON JOHANN VOSTERMAN C.1643-1690S A PROSPECT OF GREENWICH WITH THE QUEEN'S HOUSE AND THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY, THE BRITISH FLEET ON THE RIVER THAMES BEYOND

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Probably commissioned by Anne Duchess of Hamilton (1632-1716) and thence by descent
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

List of Pictures in the Abbey of Holyrood House, 5th October 1704 ('A prospect of Greenwich Parke' - in the Dining Room);
Pictures belonging to his Grace the Last deceased James Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, 7th June 1759, no. 153 ('A Prospect of Greenwich Park' in the Bed Chamber on the First Floor of East Wing');
List of Pictures, 4th September 1793, no. 153 ('Greenwich Park' - in the State Bedroon);
Inventory of Pictures at Hamilton Palace, 1811 ('A View of Greenwich' - in the Bed Closet)
CATALOGUE NOTE

Painted circa 1680 this magnificent view of Greenwich must rank as one of the most famous prospects of London, rivalled only by the views from Hampsted Heath and Richmond Hill. The view is from One Tree Hill to the north east of Observatory Hill. On the left is the Royal Observatory which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built in 1675. John Flamsteed was appointed by Charles II as his first Astronomer Royal to devise ways of improving navigation and to calculate the longitude of places. This became inseparable from the accurate calculation of time at sea, and the Royal Observatory became the source of the Prime Meridian, marking the divide between the eastern and western hemispheres of the world. To the right of the composition is the Queen's House. Construction began in 1616 with Inigo Jones as the architect, and it was originally intended to be the home of Anne of Denmark, the wife of James I. The house was later inhabited by Queen Henrietta Maria, and at the Restoration Charles II lived there whilst the new Placentia Palace was being finished. This palace is visible just beyond the Queen's House. It was eventually demolished, and on the accession of William III and Mary it was decided to build a naval almshouse on the site, which became the current Royal Naval Hospital. In the present picture, the Queen's House is shown straddling the Woolwich to Deptford road. This was moved to its present position by the Ranger of Greenwich Park in 1699. Woolwich and Deptford were the two major Royal dockyards, and vessels of the British fleet are clearly visible on the River Thames.

Johann Vosterman was a fine landscape and topographical painter who had trained as a pupil of Saftleven in Utrecht. He moved to England from France circa 1675 and painted country house views, as well as receiving some commissions from Charles II to paint views of Windsor Castle (Royal Collection). Vosterman painted another view of Greenwich which is part of the Greenwich Hospital Collection and hangs in the National Maritime Museum.

59 by 99 cm., 23 1/4 by 39 in.