Sir Thomas Lucy and his Friends

During the 17th century artists from Belgium and Holland were very popular in England. Cornelius Johnson, the author of the original painting from which this was copied, was born in England but had Dutch parents (he was originally called Cornelius Jonson van Ceulen). It is thought that he trained in Holland, came to England for a time, then returned to Holland in 1643 and worked there until his death in 1661. Thomas Lucy (about 1585-1640) was an English politician. He is seen here with his wife Alice and seven of their children. The two children with the dog in the front are boys. At this time boys and girls below the age of about six were dressed similarly. This painting is a smaller, later copy of a work at Charlecote Park in Warwickshire, the Lucy family’s ancestral home.