Latest Fine Art Gallery

Banquet des Chevaliers de l'Ordre du Saint-Esprit

Banquet des Chevaliers de l'Ordre du Saint-Esprit donne au chateau de Fontainebleau le 14 mai 1633, French School. The Knights of the Order of the Holy Spirit sit at two long tables, lavishly set with food. Nine valets are carrying food and drink to King Louis XIII, Grand Master of the Order, who sits at the far end of the room. Date: 1633

© Mary Evans Picture Library

Papaver (Poppy), two varieties

Two varieties of Papaver (Poppy) -- Papaver flore pleno rubrum (Double Red) and Papaver Eraticum rubrum (Wild Red), drawn by Basilius Besler (1561-1629), one of many plates in a book entitled Hortus Eystattensis sive diligens et accurata omnium plantarum, florum, stirpium ex variies orbis terrae partibus. The book contained illustrations of the flowers in the garden of Prince Bishop Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, in Eichstatt, Germany. Date: 1613

© Mary Evans Picture Library

The Cedars of Lebanon, by Edward Lear

The Cedars of Lebanon, by Edward Lear (1812-1888). The first version was painted in 1861; this is a later version, commissioned by Charles Roundell MP. The cedar trees were in the grounds of Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge, Surrey. The oldest tree was reputed to have been imported from the Lebanon, and planted to commemorate the birth of Prince Henry, son of James I, though another source claims that it was planted to celebrate the birth of Charles I's son Henry, 1st Duke of Gloucester, who was born at Oatlands. Date: 1860s

© Mary Evans Picture Library