Robert Peake the Elder, ca (1551-1619)

• Was an English painter.

• In 1604, he was appointed picture maker to the heir to the throne, Prince Henry; and in 1607, serjeant-painter to King James I – a post he shared with John De Critz.

• Peake is often called "the elder", to distinguish him from his son, the painter and print seller William Peake and from his grandson, Sir Robert Peake.

• Peake was the only English-born painter of a group of four artists whose workshops were closely connected.

• The others were De Critz, Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, and the miniature painter Isaac Oliver.

• Between 1590 and about 1625, they specialised in brilliantly coloured, full-length "costume pieces" that are unique to England at this time.

• It is not always possible to attribute authorship between Peake, De Critz, Gheeraerts and their assistants with certainty.

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