Portrait of Sir Thomas Gresham

Antonio Moro (Anthonis Mor van Dashorst)

Oil on panel

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Portrait of Anne Fernely, Wife of Sir Thomas Gresham

Antonio Moro (Anthonis Mor van Dashorst)

Oil on panel

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

These paintings come from the collection of Count von Bruhl that Catherine II bought from his heirs in 1769. The paired portraits of Sir Thomas Gresham, financial agent of the English crown in the Netherlands, founder of the Royal Exchange and Gresham College in London, and his spouse were included in the "second list" of Hermitage paintings drawn up by D.A. Shmidt in September 1928. This list comprised works, the sale of which would be "injurious to the significance and character of the gallery". The estimated value of each portrait was put at 150,000 roubles.

The pair was bought, with the Rembrandt Society acting as intermediary, for 156,000 Dutch guilders.