- Image reference 2006AL4580
- Enlarge image
Margaret Layton (formerly Laton)
- Object:
Painting
- Place of origin:
London (probably, painted)
- Date:
ca. 1620 (painted)
- Artist/Maker:
Gheeraerts, Marcus (the younger) (attributed to, painter (artist))
- Materials and Techniques:
oil on oak panel
- Credit Line:
Acquired with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, The Art Fund, and contributors to the Margaret Laton Fund
- Museum number:
E.214-1994
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 56e, case 9
Object Type
Oil-painted portraits of noble or wealthy men and women became increasingly common in the 17th century. Important as it was to dress magnificently, it was also essential to be portrayed in one's finery. The portraits nearly always show the sitters splendidly dressed, in the height of expensive fashion, in order to emphasise their status.
People
Margaret Layton (formerly Laton) was the daughter of Sir Hugh Browne, a wealthy vintner and grocer. She is said to have been born in 1579, but it is more likely from her costume and appearance that she was born around 1590. She married Francis Layton (1577-1661), one of the Master Yeomen of the Jewel House at the Tower of London, and died in 1641.
The artist, Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1561-1635), spent his early years in Bruges (Belgium), where his father was active as a painter and printmaker. When he was about seven, the family moved to London. Marcus eventually obtained many commissions from the English court, both for portraits and for decorative work. He was popular at the courts of Elizabeth I and James I, but fell out of favour with James's wife, Anne of Denmark, after 1617. After that date, Gheeraerts's sitters came more and more from the gentry.
