Gerlach Flicke ( fl. 1545 – 1558), Latin name Gerbarus Fleccius, anglicised in the 16th century as "Garlicke", was a German portrait painter who is known for his work in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

as an artist of the Tudor court. Flicke was imprisoned in London and he made a portrait miniature whilst there. This painting is the earliest self-portrait in oils made in England.Henry Strangwish
Gerlach Flicke, National Portrait Gallery, accessed May 2009.

Biography

Flicke was born in the German town of

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

, but is first recorded as a portrait painter in England. He arrived in London in about 1545 where he presented himself as an heir to Hans Holbein, who had died in 1543. Flicke was signing his works with a Latinised name and adding ''Germanus'' to emphasise his German training. Flicke limned portraits of

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

. One of Flicke's finest paintings, made around 1551, was probably a full-length portrait of Lord Darcy, with the legend ''Portrait of Thomas, First Lord Darcy of Chiche''. That painting was last seen in 1848 at Irnham Hall, Lincolnshire, and has not been seen since.Notes on a Tudor Painter: Gerlach Flicke
Mary F. S. Hervey, ''The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs'', Vol. 17, No. 86 (May, 1910), pp. 79-86. In 1554 he was imprisoned in London, where he became a friend of the privateer Henry Strangwish. Why Flicke was imprisoned is not known but Strangwish was there because of his piracy. Flicke may have been a victim of the persecution of Protestants by Mary I of England from 1553. The double portrait of Strangwish and Flicke is remarkable for a number of reasons. The portraits are both miniatures, less than four inches high. The self-portrait of Flicke, the earliest known self-portrait in oils painted in England, has a Latin inscription that may be translated, ''Such was the face of Gerlach Flicke when he was a painter in the City of London. This, he himself painted from a looking glass for his dear friends. So that they might have something to remember him after his death.''The Early Modern World
Judith Kidd, Rosemary Rees, Ruth Tudor, p30, 2000, , accessed May 2009 Flicke's best-known painting is possibly that of

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry ...

, dated 1545, which is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Flicke died in the London parish of

St Giles-without-Cripplegate St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to S ...

on 24 January 1558. He left his goods to a servant in Osnabrück, which suggests that was his home town.Gerlach Flicke
Oxford National Dictionany of Biography, accessed May 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flicke, Gerlach Year of birth missing 1558 deaths 16th-century German painters German male painters 16th-century English painters English male painters Artists from Osnabrück

Biography

See also

References