a
very curious note on this subject. Charles I. wrote with his own
hand,--"To speak with Inigo Jones concerning a house for Vandike." This
house demanded the combination of certain conditions very difficult to
meet with. It was necessary that the artist should be comfortably
established; and, on the other hand, the King wished him not to be too
far from the palace. The architect was able to satisfy all these
requirements. A winter residence was found for Van Dyck in Blackfriars
on the right bank of the Thames. From his palace in Whitehall, Charles
I., crossing the river in his barge, could conveniently reach the studio
of his favourite painter. He took great pleasure in watching him at work
and loved to forget himself during the long hours charmed by the wit and
innate distinction of his entertainer. During the summer season, Van
Dyck lived at Eltham in the county of Kent. He probably occupied an
apartment or some dependency of one of the palaces of the Crown. An
annual pension of two hundred pounds sterling was assigned to him, first
of all to enable him to support a household worthy of the title bestowed
upon him,--"Principal Painter in Ordinary." The portraits commanded by
the King were paid for independently. The remuneration for his works
finally provided the artist with that brilliant and gorgeous life which
had been his ambition for so long and which an assiduous industry had
not been able to procure for him in Flanders. He had no less than six
servants and several horses; at all periods, as we know, he always
bestowed much care and refinement upon his toilet. Frequenting an
elegant and frivolous court could not but develop this natural
disposition for all the quests of luxury.

[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE CHILDREN OF CHARLES I.
_Van Dyck._]

Three months after his arrival, Van Dyck was included in a creation of
knights made on July 5, 1632. Charles I. added still more to this favour
by the gift of a chain of gold bearing a miniature of himself enriched
with diamonds. In many of his portraits the artist is represented with
this mark of royal munificence.

It now devolved upon him to justify the high position to which he found
himself so rapidly elevated. An act of the Privy Seal pointed out by Mr.
Carpenter shows us that Van Dyck lost no time in satisfying the
impatience of his royal protector. On August 8, 1632, the sum of L224
was allowed him from the royal treasury for various works of painting.