Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans (d.1684)

manner of Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641). Oil painting on canvas, Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans (d.1684), in the manner of Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641), 17th century. A three-quarter-length portrait against very dark background, in Van Dyck manner. He has long brown hair and a moustache. He wears a black costume with an ornate white lace over-collar tied under his chin, and matching cuffs. Sleeves open along inner arm to show under garment of white. Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans (d.1784).Vice-Chamberlain, Master of the Horse, and favourite of Queen Henrietta Maria, from his appointment as the first in 1628, through exile, and until her death in 1669, always representing her francophile interests (eg. against Clarendon) - second only to his own.He was commander of her bodyguard and accompanied her on her escape to France. He was created Earl of St Albans in1660. In 1664 he obtained a grant of land north of Pall Mall, on which he laid St James's Square, a market and surrounding streets, one of which still bears his name. In 1671-1674 he became Lord Chamberlain and subsequently ambassador at Paris. He was a patron of Abraham Cowley, but the target of Andrew Marvell, who in his 'Last Instructions to a Painter' excoriates both his character and appearance, including his 'drayman's shoulders' and 'butcher's mein'. Evelyn has a telling description of him in his last year, still addicted to gambling at the cards, that he was too blind to see, getting someone to tell him what he saw (18 September 1683).He died in 1684 when his nephew succeeded to the barony. Ickworth, Suffolk (Accredited Museum)