Guy Stair Sainty
Encyclopedia
Guy Stair Sainty, KC*SG
(born 7 December 1950) is an art dealer
and author on royal genealogy and heraldry
.
in Hampshire
and Westminster School
, London, and continued his education in Rome and at The College of Law
in London. In 1979, he moved to New York
and founded the Stair Sainty Gallery. In May 1983, he married Cynthia Volk and the two had three children. After this marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1993 and annulled by the Catholic Church in 1995, Sainty married Elizabeth Pierson, a private dealer in 19th and 20th century art in New York, in Washington on 28 May 1995 and in a second ceremony at the London Oratory on 28 September 1995. With his second wife, Sainty had three more children. In 2005, he founded a new gallery, Stair Sainty Ltd at a premises at 38 Dover Street, London W1S 4LN, which he shares with two other art dealers, Edmondo di Robilant and Marco Voena.
. Sainty also maintains a website detailing the histories of many chivalric order
s. His published works include:
. He is a member of the Royal Academy of Heraldry and Genealogy of Madrid and has served as a County Staff Officer (Sussex) in the St. John Ambulance
. Sainty was later made an Officer, then an Associated Commander Brother of the Venerable Order of Saint John
on 16 June 1989. On 30 July 1992, he was promoted to the rank of (Associate) Knight
in that Order, being transferred to full membership with the change of Statutes in 1999, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the Priory in the US until June 2008. He was formerly a member of the Savoy
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
but resigned in 2006 and is the Vice-Grand Chancellor of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George (Spanish branch), of which he is a Bailiff Grand Cross. Sainty's armorial bookplate shows the membership insignia of the (Spanish) Order of St. Januarius
, the Venerable Order of Saint John
, the Order of St. Gregory the Great
, the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
, the Order pro merito Melitensi
of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Order of Saint Joseph
of Tuscany. In 2008 he was invested as a Knight of Magistral Grace of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Sainty has also served as a senior county staff officer to H.R.H. Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia
.
Sainty is an armiger having had arms granted by the College of Arms
in London, matriculated at the Court of the Lord Lyon
in Edinburgh, and certified by the Cronista de Armas in Spain. The blazon of these arms is Azure a Chief Gules over all in pale two Hippocampuses respectant Or and in the Azure two Keys palewise wards upwards and outwards the bows linked in Or. The blazon makes coincidental reference to those of a Sankey armiger, though Mr Sainty does not claim any such descent, his own lineage having been traced to the late 18th century. Sainty was admitted into the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 2008 attached to the Grand Magistery.
ordered Sainty to pay twenty thousand Euro for defamation in this article. http://www.ilgiornaledivicenza.it/stories/Cronaca/192318__il_principe_poidimani_batte_il_re_dellaraldica/
Poidimani and Roberto Cavallaro, and six of his cl ose collaborators were arrested in Italy on 22 March 2007 and charged with fraud, forging documents, extortion, and criminal association. Th e Italian tax police (Guardia di Finanza) seized 712 forged diplomatic passports, 600 forged diplomatic IDs, 135 forged CD plates and they also took away his throne. However, Rosario Poidimani insists on his innocence and claims that he acted within his rights, as the legitimate pretender and head of the Royal House of Portugal and is the victim of his opponents who support Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
. There is a case before the Court of Busto Arsizio
pending a decision.http://www3.varesenews.it/busto/articolo.php?id=92168
Order of St. Gregory the Great
The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...
(born 7 December 1950) is an art dealer
Art dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art. Art dealers' professional associations serve to set high standards for accreditation or membership and to support art exhibitions and shows.-Role:...
and author on royal genealogy and heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
.
Life and education
Guy Stair Sainty was born on 7 December 1950, the eldest son of Christopher Lawrence Sainty and his second wife Virginia Cade Stair. His father was Chief Engineer and Director of Carrier Engineering Co Ltd. He attended Highfield SchoolHighfield School
Highfield School is a Primary School located in the Highfield district of Southampton.-History:Stephen Ram of Ramford, County Wexford was a resident of Portswood Lodge in Highfield. Part of his estate included Small Gains Field which bordered Back Lane...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
and Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, London, and continued his education in Rome and at The College of Law
The College of Law
The College of Law of England and Wales is a private educational institution in England and a registered charity which provides legal education for students and professionals.-20th century:...
in London. In 1979, he moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and founded the Stair Sainty Gallery. In May 1983, he married Cynthia Volk and the two had three children. After this marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1993 and annulled by the Catholic Church in 1995, Sainty married Elizabeth Pierson, a private dealer in 19th and 20th century art in New York, in Washington on 28 May 1995 and in a second ceremony at the London Oratory on 28 September 1995. With his second wife, Sainty had three more children. In 2005, he founded a new gallery, Stair Sainty Ltd at a premises at 38 Dover Street, London W1S 4LN, which he shares with two other art dealers, Edmondo di Robilant and Marco Voena.
Published works
Sainty has contributed to many publications on art of the early modern period. He has written numerous articles on nobility, European royal dynasties, and orders of chivalry. In 1998 he assisted with the return of the Almanach de GothaAlmanach de Gotha
The Almanach de Gotha was a respected directory of Europe's highest nobility and royalty. First published in 1763 by C.W. Ettinger in Gotha at the ducal court of Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, it was regarded as an authority in the classification of monarchies, princely and ducal...
. Sainty also maintains a website detailing the histories of many chivalric order
Chivalric order
Chivalric orders are societies and fellowships of knights that have been created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades...
s. His published works include:
- Sacred Military Order of Constantine of Saint George, 1976 (ISBN 8400042689)
- First Painters of the King: French Royal Taste from Louis XIV the Revolution 1985
- François Boucher: His Circle and Influence 1987
- The Orders of Chivalry and Merit of the Bourbon Two Sicilies Dynasty 1989
- Eighty Years of French Painting: 1775-1855 1991
- The Orders of Saint John 1991
- La Insigne Orden de Tosón de Oro 1996
- Romance and Chivalry: Literature and History Reflected in Early 19th Century French Painting, 1996 (ISBN 0954769619)
- An Eye on Nature II: French Landscape Painting from 1785-1900, 1999 (ISBN 0952235323)
- World Orders of Knighthood and Merit, 2006 (ISBN 0971196672)
Appointments, awards, and decorations
Sainty has been involved in the world of chivalry and heraldry for many years. He has served as leader of the International Patrons of the Arts of the Vatican Museums, and as one of three consultants to the Committee on the Orders of Saint John of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and The Alliance of the Orders of St. John of JerusalemThe Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem
The Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem is a federation of Protestant religious orders in Europe that claim shared inheritance of the tradition of the mediaeval military Knights Hospitaller ....
. He is a member of the Royal Academy of Heraldry and Genealogy of Madrid and has served as a County Staff Officer (Sussex) in the St. John Ambulance
St. John Ambulance
St John Ambulance, branded as St John in some territories, is a common name used by a number of affiliated organisations in different countries dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid and the provision of ambulance services, all of which derive their origins from the St John...
. Sainty was later made an Officer, then an Associated Commander Brother of the Venerable Order of Saint John
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
on 16 June 1989. On 30 July 1992, he was promoted to the rank of (Associate) Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
in that Order, being transferred to full membership with the change of Statutes in 1999, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the Priory in the US until June 2008. He was formerly a member of the Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus is an order of chivalry awarded by the House of Savoy, the heads of which were formerly Kings of Italy...
but resigned in 2006 and is the Vice-Grand Chancellor of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George (Spanish branch), of which he is a Bailiff Grand Cross. Sainty's armorial bookplate shows the membership insignia of the (Spanish) Order of St. Januarius
Order of St. Januarius
The Illustrious Royal Order of Saint Januarius is an order of knighthood bestowed by the head of the Royal House of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies...
, the Venerable Order of Saint John
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
, the Order of St. Gregory the Great
Order of St. Gregory the Great
The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...
, the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George is a Roman Catholic order of chivalry. It was fictively established by Constantine the Great, though in reality it was founded between 1520 and 1545 by two brothers of the Angeli Comneni family. Members of the Angeli Comneni family remained...
, the Order pro merito Melitensi
Order pro merito Melitensi
The Order of Merit pro Merito Melitensi of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a knightly order of merit established in 1920. It is awarded to men and women who have brought honour and prestige to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta or actively promoted Christian values or works of charity...
of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Order of Saint Joseph
Order of Saint Joseph
The Order of Saint Joseph was instituted in 1807 by Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany during his reign as Grand Duke of Würzburg. It was transformed into a Tuscan Dynastic Order in 1817....
of Tuscany. In 2008 he was invested as a Knight of Magistral Grace of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Sainty has also served as a senior county staff officer to H.R.H. Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia
Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia
Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia was a member of the House of Karađorđević.-Early life and education:...
.
Sainty is an armiger having had arms granted by the College of Arms
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
in London, matriculated at the Court of the Lord Lyon
Court of the Lord Lyon
The Court of the Lord Lyon, also known as the Lyon Court, is a standing court of law which regulates heraldry in Scotland. Like the College of Arms in England it maintains the register of grants of arms, known as the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, as well as records of...
in Edinburgh, and certified by the Cronista de Armas in Spain. The blazon of these arms is Azure a Chief Gules over all in pale two Hippocampuses respectant Or and in the Azure two Keys palewise wards upwards and outwards the bows linked in Or. The blazon makes coincidental reference to those of a Sankey armiger, though Mr Sainty does not claim any such descent, his own lineage having been traced to the late 18th century. Sainty was admitted into the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 2008 attached to the Grand Magistery.
Libel suit by Rosario Poidimani
In December 2003, Rosario Poidimani brought a libel suit in Italy against Guy Stair Sainty on account of his published analysis of the claims of Maria Pia of Saxe Coburg Braganza and Rosario Poidimani, A Brief Response to Statements Made by the Supporters of the late Maria Pia de Saxe-Coburg-Bragança, her Grandson Carlos Miguel Berrocal y Blais, and her Alleged Cognate Rosario Poidimani in Respect of their Claims to the Throne of Portugal. The Italian court ruled in Mr. Sainty's favor and found that the law suit against him was frivolous. In August 2010 Rosario Poidimani won a second suit against Guy Stair Sainty and the Italian Court of VicenzaVicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
ordered Sainty to pay twenty thousand Euro for defamation in this article. http://www.ilgiornaledivicenza.it/stories/Cronaca/192318__il_principe_poidimani_batte_il_re_dellaraldica/
Poidimani and Roberto Cavallaro, and six of his cl ose collaborators were arrested in Italy on 22 March 2007 and charged with fraud, forging documents, extortion, and criminal association. Th e Italian tax police (Guardia di Finanza) seized 712 forged diplomatic passports, 600 forged diplomatic IDs, 135 forged CD plates and they also took away his throne. However, Rosario Poidimani insists on his innocence and claims that he acted within his rights, as the legitimate pretender and head of the Royal House of Portugal and is the victim of his opponents who support Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza , is the 24th Duke of Braganza and a pretender to the throne of Portugal.-Birth and education:...
. There is a case before the Court of Busto Arsizio
Busto Arsizio
Busto Arsizio is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy, in northern Italy, 25 km north of Milan in the province of Varese.The economy of Busto Arsizio is mainly based on industry and commerce.-History:...
pending a decision.http://www3.varesenews.it/busto/articolo.php?id=92168