Gerlach Flicke (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

as an

artist of the Tudor court The artists of the Tudor court are the painters and limners engaged by the monarchs of England's Tudor dynasty and their courtiers between 1485 and 1603, from the reign of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I. Typically managing a group of as ...

. Flicke was imprisoned in London and he made a

portrait miniature A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting from Renaissance art, usually executed in gouache, Watercolor painting, watercolor, or Vitreous enamel, enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illumin ...

whilst there. This painting is the earliest

self-portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...

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 (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. 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 of 168 ...

, 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, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

. 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 Anti-Protestantism is bias, hatred or distrust against some or all branches of Protestantism and/or its followers, especially when amplified in legal, political, ethic or military measures. Protestants were not tolerated throughout most of E ...

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous ...

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, p. 30, 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 theologian, 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 is honoured as a Oxford Martyrs, martyr ...

, dated 1545, which is now in the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

in London. Flicke died in the London parish of

St Giles-without-Cripplegate St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Church of England, Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street (London), Fore Street within the modern Barbican Estate, Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the Lond ...

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 Painters from Lower Saxony

Biography

See also

References