File:TheGreatPicture AnneClifford 1646 ByJanVanBelcamp.PNG

English: The Great Picture, a huge triptych measuring 8ft 5" high and 16ft 2" wide, attributed to Jan van Belcamp (1610-1653), formerly hanging in Appleby Castle now displayed in the Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, Cumbria. Commissioned in 1646 by Lady Anne Clifford, 14th Baroness de Clifford, Countess Dowager of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery (1590-1676) the only surviving child and sole heiress of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, 13th Baron de Clifford (1558–1605) by his wife Lady Margaret Russell, daughter of Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford. It depicts Anne Clifford as a girl at left and as a mature woman at right. The central panel shows her parents and brothers who died young. The painting is replete with significant elements referring to her life and to her succession to her paternal inheritance, gained after a lengthy legal dispute. The side margins of the central panel are profusely decorated with heraldry relating to the Clifford family, and other heraldic escutcheons serve to identify the various persons depicted both as living beings and in portraits.

Catalogue entry, Abbot Hall Art Gallery:

"This monumental painting presents the family history and accomplishments of Lady Anne Clifford using a combination of portraiture, text and symbolism. The left side panel of the triptych depicts Lady Anne Clifford at the age of fifteen, when she was disinherited. Portraits of Lady Anne’s governess, Mrs. Anne Taylor, and her tutor, the poet Samuel Daniel, are placed above the shelves of books, which include titles by Ovid, Chaucer, and Cervantes’ Don Quixote. These elements of the composition highlight Lady Anne’s education and refined upbringing. The right side panel shows Lady Anne in late middle age, when she finally regained the Clifford estates. Portraits of Lady Anne’s two husbands hang behind her: Richard Sackville, third Earl of Dorset, who died in 1624, and Philip Herbert, fourth Earl of Pembroke and first Earl of Montgomery, who died in 1650. The depiction of Lady Anne at fifty-six was used as the model for many subsequent portraits and is probably the only likeness in The Great Picture to have been painted from life. The central panel depicts Lady Anne’s parents, Margaret Russell and George Clifford, third Earl of Cumberland, with her older brothers who did not survive to adulthood: Francis (1584-1589) and Robert (1585-1591). On the walls behind the family group hang portraits of Lady Anne’s four aunts. As Lady Anne was not born until 1590, she does not appear in the central panel as such, but Lady Margaret’s gesture hints that the daughter who would ultimately become the Clifford heir had already been conceived at the time of the original painting. The triptych is a composite work by a skilled copyist working from miniatures, portraits and whatever gowns and armour were still in Lady Anne’s possession. The piece has been attributed to Jan van Belcamp (1610-1653), a Dutch artist active in England who was a specialist in this genre. The inscriptions were added by a different hand, possibly by the same scribe who copied out Lady Anne’s Great Bookes of Record, which were begun by Lady Anne’s mother in an attempt to gather evidence to support her daughter’s claim to her inheritance, and which were ultimately completed by Lady Anne herself. Provenance: The Great Picture hung in Appleby Castle for over three hundred years. It is believed that the Appleby painting, now belonging to the Lakeland Arts Trust, is the original, while an inferior copy, now lost and which is known only through a watercolour copy made in the 19th century, hung in Skipton Castle. In 1981, the Lakeland Arts Trust seized the opportunity to purchase The Great Picture, along with 58 related portraits, at a greatly reduced price in order to keep the works in Cumbria. The intention was that The Great Picture would continue to hang in Appleby Castle on long term loan for all to enjoy. Sadly, Appleby Castle subsequently closed its doors to the public, and The Great Picture had to be brought to Abbot Hall where, initially, only the side panels were on display. In June 2011, after a great deal of complex planning, the central panel, which is too large to enter Abbot Hall by conventional means, was craned into the building through a window and the complete triptych is now on show in its entirety for all to enjoy. The complete triptych was lent to the Art Treasures of England exhibition held at the Royal Academy in London in 1998. From March 2003 until October 2004, The Great Picture was the subject of a special display at Tate Britain. The Great Picture was purchased in 1981 through a private treaty sale, and with the aid of grants from:

Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund The National Heritage Memorial Fund The National Art-Collections Fund (Fulham Fund) Eden District Council Appleby Town Council Cumbria County Council South Lakeland District Council Kendal Town Council Ferguson Industrial Holdings Greenwood Charitable Trust Granton Investments

Dalemain Estates and other generous donations"