Lady Drury's Closet
Encyclopedia
Lady Drury's Closet is a series of painted wooden panels of early 17th-century date, currently installed in the room over the porch of Christchurch Mansion
in Ipswich
, Suffolk
, England.
They originally decorated a so-called painted closet, about 7 feet square, adjacent to a bedroom in Hawstead Place, near Bury St Edmunds. It is believed they were made for the private devotions of Lady Elizabeth Drury, wife of Sir Roger Drury of Hawstead and Hardwick, who died in 1615. They were removed to Hardwick House, Suffolk, probably by Sir Roger, before 1615; and when the Hardwick House contents were sold in 1924, they were purchased for and installed in Christchurch Mansion when it had already become the home of the Fine and Decorative Arts collections of the Ipswich Museum
.
The panels contain a series of emblems
of the kind associated with emblem books—images fashionable throughout Europe for private religious meditation in that age. The original sequence of the emblems has become muddled. In addition to their importance for the study of emblems in general, they are significant because the Drurys were patrons of the poet and divine John Donne
, two of whose elegies were written following the death in 1610 of their daughter Elizabeth Drury—namely, An Anatomy of the World and The Second Anniversarie of the Progresse of the Soule. The epigrammatic and verbally or visually paradoxical themes of the paintings are, however, linked more directly to the themes and techniques of meditation developed in the writings and sermons of the preacher Joseph Hall, who was chaplain and spiritual advisor to Lady Drury at Hawstead.
Christchurch Mansion
Christchurch Mansion is a substantial Tudor brick mansion house within Christchurch Park on the edge of the town centre of Ipswich, Suffolk, England...
in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England.
They originally decorated a so-called painted closet, about 7 feet square, adjacent to a bedroom in Hawstead Place, near Bury St Edmunds. It is believed they were made for the private devotions of Lady Elizabeth Drury, wife of Sir Roger Drury of Hawstead and Hardwick, who died in 1615. They were removed to Hardwick House, Suffolk, probably by Sir Roger, before 1615; and when the Hardwick House contents were sold in 1924, they were purchased for and installed in Christchurch Mansion when it had already become the home of the Fine and Decorative Arts collections of the Ipswich Museum
Ipswich Museum
Ipswich Museum is a registered museum of culture, history and natural heritage located on High Street in Ipswich, the County Town of the English county of Suffolk...
.
The panels contain a series of emblems
Emblem
An emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
of the kind associated with emblem books—images fashionable throughout Europe for private religious meditation in that age. The original sequence of the emblems has become muddled. In addition to their importance for the study of emblems in general, they are significant because the Drurys were patrons of the poet and divine John Donne
John Donne
John Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
, two of whose elegies were written following the death in 1610 of their daughter Elizabeth Drury—namely, An Anatomy of the World and The Second Anniversarie of the Progresse of the Soule. The epigrammatic and verbally or visually paradoxical themes of the paintings are, however, linked more directly to the themes and techniques of meditation developed in the writings and sermons of the preacher Joseph Hall, who was chaplain and spiritual advisor to Lady Drury at Hawstead.
Sources
- Explanatory panels in Christchurch Mansion (Colchester & Ipswich Museums).
- Westerwell, B., Anglo-Dutch Relations in the Field of the Emblem (Brill 1997).
- Cullum, Sir J., History and Antiquities of Hawstead and Hardwicke (1813).
- Farmer, N.K., Poets and the Visual Arts in Renaissance England (1984).