Wednesday, September 9, 2026

Lord Arundel's Collections

attributed to Garofalo (Benvenuto Tisi)
Youth with Cap
ca. 1505-1520
drawing
(formerly in the Arundel Collection
incorrectly attributed to Leonardo da Vinci)
British Museum

Wenceslaus Hollar after Garofalo
Youth with Cap
1646
etching
(copied while owned by Lord Arundel) 
Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig

Peter Aubry after Anthony van Dyck
Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel
1644
engraving
(book illustration)
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel

Anonymous British Printmaker
Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel
18th century
engraving
National Portrait Gallery, London

Parmigianino (Francesco Mazzola)
Studies for Eve
ca. 1523
drawing
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Anonymous Copyist
after Parmigianino
Study for Eve
ca. 1635-50
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Nicholas Lanier
after Parmigianino
Study for Eve
1656
etching
British Museum

Anonymous Copyist
after Parmigianino
Study for Eve
ca. 1635-50
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Nicholas Lanier
after Parmigianino
Study for Eve
1656
etching
British Museum

Parmigianino (Francesco Mazzola)
Studies for Moses with the Tablets of the Law
ca. 1523
drawing
(formerly in the Arundel Collection)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Anonymous Copyist
after Parmigianino
Study for Moses
ca. 1635-50
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Lucas Vorsterman the Younger
after Parmigianino
Study for Moses
ca. 1640-50
etching
British Museum

Arundel Society
Virgin and Child with an Angel
(after painting by Fra Filippo Lippi in the Uffizi)
1877
chromolithograph
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Arundel Society
Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
(after central panel of the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck)
1868
chromolithograph
Wellcome Collection, London

London's 19th-century Arundel Society, named for the great 17th-century collector, was "an organization founded in 1848 by Prince Albert, John Ruskin and others that was dedicated to the reproduction of paintings by Giotto and other artists for the education and improvement of public taste in art."  The emphasis, in keeping with wider current thinking, was on providing instruction rather than enjoyment.  The prospectus issued in 1849 stated that "in their execution, that manner will be preferred which most truthfully expresses the original, rather than that which presents the greatest attraction to the eye."  By the time of the Society's closure in 1897 over two hundred chromolithographs had been circulated.   

Charles William Sherborn
Design for a Bookplate
for the Burlington Arts Club

(Rembrandt and the Earl of Arundel)
1893
drawing, with added gouache
British Museum

Charles William Sherborn
Bookplate for the Burlington Arts Club
(Rembrandt and the Earl of Arundel)
1893
engraving
British Museum

Arundel's memory was likewise kept green in 19th-century London by the Burlington Arts Club.  There, a bookplate was commissioned depicting two – and only two – institutional mascots: Rembrandt van Rijn and Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel.