Inscribed in yellow paint in cartouche, upper right: "Rien m'estone"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B2021.15
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Subject Terms:
portrait
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
In a New Light: 500 Years of British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-04-01 - 2026-01-30)
Publications:
Christie's sale catalogue : Anonymous Sale : 11 June 1999, Christie's, Christie's, June 11, 1999, lot 5, Not at YaleChristie’s sale catalogue : Jasper Conran: The Collection Part I : 14 September 2021, Christie's, London, lot 119, https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6331942?ldp_breadcrumb=back&intObjectID=6331942&from=salessummary&lid=1Conran Collection, Smith Greenfield, 10 Sep 2021, https://smithgreenfield.co.uk/conran-collection/Annunciata Elwes, Going, going, gone, Country Life, September 1, 2021, p. 45, S3 .C68 Oversize (YCBA)R. Guilding, Jasper Wares, World of interiors, Apr 2021, p. 154, Not at YaleSusan Moore, Art Market Preview, Apollo, vol. 194, London, September 1, 2021, p. 69, Art & Architecture SourceSusan Moore, Art Market Review, Apollo, v. 194, London, Nov. 2021, p. 72, N1 A54 Oversize (YCBA)J. Sherwood, Baby Grand, World of Interiors, Mar 2002, p. 135, Not at Yale.Roy C. Strong, The Elizabethan image : an introduction to English portraiture, 1558-1603, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, pp. 140-143, , pl. 139, 140, ND1314.2 .S87 2019 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
While buildings burn, ships founder, and snakes and toads circle him, this young English aristocrat leans casually against a tree. His downturned boot strikes a melancholic note, but a plaque inscribed with the words Rien m’estone (Nothing astounds me), which hangs near his head, underscores how unmoved he is by the unfolding calamities. Browne was a Catholic at a time when plots against Elizabeth I, a Protestant, had created a climate of suspicion toward those loyal to Rome. A visual essay in stoicism, this painting captures the defiance of a man who felt unjustly persecuted for his beliefs and wrongfully accused of treason. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2025