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Thomas Howard Arundel, earl of

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

Thomas Howard Arundel, earl of 1585-1646, first great English art collector and patron of arts. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he married a goddaughter of Queen Elizabeth and was always closely connected with the court. He held many high offices; in 1616 he was appointed privy councillor and later made earl marshal of England. Both Rubens and Van Dyck painted portraits for Arundel of himself and his wife in addition to other works. Inigo Jones, long in his service, accompanied him to Rome; there Arundel excavated some Roman statues, which with other ancient sculptures, including the Parian Chronicle, or Marmor Chronicon, were given to the Univ. of Oxford in 1667 and became known as the Arundel Marbles. Most of his sculpture collection is in Oxford's Ashmolean Museum. His collections also included Flemish, Dutch, German, and Italian paintings of the 16th cent.; Dürer and Holbein were particularly well represented. His library was given to the Royal Society; the manuscripts known as the Arundel Collection were later transferred (1831) to the British Museum. The Arundel Society (1848-97) reproduced works by famous artists in order to promote public interest in art. In 1904 the Arundel Club began to print reproductions of works in private collections.

Bibliography: See study by M. F. Hervey (1921, repr. 1969).

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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press