A lifelong supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots, George Seton helped her escape from Holyrood Palace after the murder of David Rizzio. Between 1570 and 1572 Seton was in the Southern Netherlands acting as her ambassador to the Duke of Alva. In the final year of the visit, Frans Pourbus, the Elder painted the original portrait, after which this copy was made. It shows Seton and his family, with each sitter identified by their initials and age. They are, clockwise: Sir John Seton; Robert, 1st Earl of Winton; George 5th Lord Seton; Margaret; Alexander, 1st Earl of Dunfermline and Sir William (Gulielmus).
Frans Pourbus the Elder (Netherlandish, 1545 - 1581)
Frans Pourbus was the son of the painter Pieter Pourbus, who was possibly his earliest teacher. By 1564 he had entered the studio of Frans Floris in Antwerp. Floris was heavily influenced by his travels in Italy, especially by the boldness and energy of the pictures he saw by artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael. Pourbus picked up this aspect of Floris?s style in his own paintings. He was mainly a painter of portraits and religious subjects, and most of his patrons were wealthy aristocrats. Around 1570 he became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke. His son, also named Frans, became an artist like his father. He, too, painted portraits and subsequently worked for some of the most illustrious courts in Europe, including that of Marie de Medicis of France.
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