Steven van der Meulen. Portraits.
Steven van der Meulen was a Flemish artist active c. 1543-1564. He gained prominence in England in the first decade of the reign of Elizabeth I as one of many Flemish artists active at the Tudor court.
He is best known for the Barrington Park portrait type of Elizabeth I and for three-quarter length portraits of members of the English court in the first half of the 1560s. A recently discovered will indicates that he died in London between October 1563 and January 1564.
Little is known about van der Meulen's personal life. His father was Rinnold van der Meulen.
He was probably born in Antwerp, where he studied under Willem van Cleve the Younger in 1543 and was admitted to the Guild of St Luke in 1552. He was in London by September 1560, is recorded as a member of the Dutch congregation there in June 1562, and was naturalized on 4 February 1562. In 1561 the English merchant John Dymocke or Dymoch visited Sweden in connection with negotiations for a marriage between Elizabeth and Erik XIV, taking with him a Netherlandish painter described as Master Staffan to paint the portrait of the King. It is generally accepted that this was van der Meulen. In 1935, W. G. Constable identified this portrait with a full-length of Erik XIV at Gripsholm Castle, Mariefred, near Stockholm. Scholar Elizabeth Drey has recently discovered van der Meulen's will, dated 5 October 1563 during an
Steven van der Meulen was a Flemish artist active c. 1543-1564. He gained prominence in England in the first decade of the reign of Elizabeth I as one of many Flemish artists active at the Tudor court.
He is best known for the Barrington Park portrait type of Elizabeth I and for three-quarter length portraits of members of the English court in the first half of the 1560s. A recently discovered will indicates that he died in London between October 1563 and January 1564.
Little is known about van der Meulen's personal life. His father was Rinnold van der Meulen.
He was probably born in Antwerp, where he studied under Willem van Cleve the Younger in 1543 and was admitted to the Guild of St Luke in 1552. He was in London by September 1560, is recorded as a member of the Dutch congregation there in June 1562, and was naturalized on 4 February 1562. In 1561 the English merchant John Dymocke or Dymoch visited Sweden in connection with negotiations for a marriage between Elizabeth and Erik XIV, taking with him a Netherlandish painter described as Master Staffan to paint the portrait of the King. It is generally accepted that this was van der Meulen. In 1935, W. G. Constable identified this portrait with a full-length of Erik XIV at Gripsholm Castle, Mariefred, near Stockholm. Scholar Elizabeth Drey has recently discovered van der Meulen's will, dated 5 October 1563 during an
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