The Leeswood Tondo - Summary (Continued)
Besides Gwydir, he owned a house in the Strand in London, and houses in Brentford and Isleworth : he owned land in Wales and land in Lincolnshire. In his will he bequeathed to his wife, amongst other things, a thousand pounds, a chain of diamonds and coaches and coach-horses. On the day of his death his accounts show that he had almost £ 4,500. He seems to have had all the trappings of a successful courtier.
There is no documentary evidence of Sir Richard collecting pictures, and the post-mortem inventory of the Strand house mentions only family portraits. However he was involved in paying for the Queen's purchases, her portrait commissions, the building works to create new galleries and the Somerset House Chapel. He would undoubtedly have been involved with negotiations with the representatives of the Vatican, and he would be sure to appreciate that pictures had become diplomatic currency.
If the monogram on the back of The Tondo is read as Henrietta Maria's cipher, then how might this royal painting have passed into Sir Richard's possession ? He may have accepted it as a pledge for money lent to the Queen; he may have been asked by the Queen to house it securely during the apprentice riots ; he may have decided to take it under his protection after the royal departure from London ; he may have taken it, during the Commonwealth, on account of monies owed to him by the Queen. It may also have been a gift from the Vatican delegation for "services rendered".
If Sir Richard did acquire The Tondo from Henrietta Maria, then he would have had good reason for hiding the picture away in Gwydir ; not only was the picture a Roman Catholic image, but it also had the highest credentials, having been the property of the de facto head of English Catholicism.
Excerpt from Dr Murdoch Lothian's PhD thesis 'The Methods Employed to Provenance and to Attribute Putative works by Raphael'