ADRIAEN HANNEMAN (c. 1603 -1671). "2nd Duke of Hamilton. Oil on canvas. Re-framed. It has a 19th century frame. Size: 133 x 104,5 cm; 144 x 115 cm (frame). The subject of this work is the 2nd Duke of Hamilton, following faithfully the aesthetic model of the portrait painted by Adriaen Hanneman, which currently belongs to the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London. The sitter is depicted in an interior space open to the landscape on the right, while the left is defined by a large red curtain, a customary device of the period. With his bust long and slightly turned three-quarter length in the style of court portraits, the Duke turns his face slightly to look at the viewer with a proud, regal bearing. He makes his position clear by showing his right arm, which bears the cross of the Order of the Garter, the most prestigious order in England linked to the Knights of the Round Table, while a blue silk band with the sketched figure of Saint George, patron saint of the order, hangs around his neck. These elements break with the sobriety of his completely dark clothing, thus standing out in the image in the same way as the white skin of the sitter, especially the delicate hand holding the drapery. William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton (1616 - 1651) was a Scottish nobleman who supported Presbyterian causes during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, and from there travelled to Continental Europe, where he spent time at the court of Louis XIII of France, returning at the age of 21 to become a favourite at the court of Charles I in London. In 1640 he was elected Member of Parliament for Portsmouth in the English House of Commons for the Short Parliament. He became Secretary of State for Scotland. In 1643, he was arrested in Oxford by order of King Charles I for "concurrence" with his brother, the Duke of Hamilton. In 1647 he signed, on behalf of the Scots, the treaty with Charles known as the "Compromise" and helped to organise the Second English Civil War. In 1648, Hamilton fled to Holland to the Prince of Wales's court in exile at The Hague. In 1650 he was conferred the insignia of the Order of the Garter. Adriaen Hanneman was a renowned Dutch painter of the Age of Orom who achieved popularity for his portraits of the British royal court. His style was strongly influenced by his contemporary, Anthony van Dyck. Born into a wealthy Catholic patrician family in The Hague, Hanneman studied drawing with the portraitist Jan Antonisz. He moved to England in 1623 where he lived for 16 years. There he met and was influenced by Anthony van Dyck, Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen and Daniel Mytens. He enjoyed the patronage of Constantijn Huygens, who introduced him to the court. He returned to The Hague and in 1645 became a deacon of the Guild of Saint Luke. In 1656 he was one of the dissidents who split from the Confrerie Pictura. Like so many other Catholic painters, he fell on hard times shortly after the approach of the Rampjaar. Hanneman is known for court portraits of British and Dutch nobility, generally painted in imitation of the style of Anthony van Dyck. According to some sources he may have worked in Van Dyke's studio in London. Later, in The Hague, he painted a number of English royalists who had been exiled to the Low Countries following the English Civil War.