Adrian Vanson (died c. 1602) was a portrait artist who worked for James VI of Scotland.
Family and artistic background Adrian was probably born in Breda, the son of Willem Claesswen van Son by Kathelijn Adriaen Matheus de Blauwverversdochter. His uncle or cousin Peter Mattheus or Matteusen was a painter in London.Murphy, Nathan W. and Leslie Mahler, "The King, Vanson, and de Colonia Ancestors of William Fitzhugh of Virginia," The American Genealogist, 88 (2016), pp. 152-157.
Peter Matheeusen in his 1588 will left his cousin Adrian Vanson, named as "Adryan van Zont", portraits of his parents, Jacob and Agnes, and of himself, with a book The Arte concerning Lymning. Amongst the other bequests, Matheussen left money to the miniaturist Isaac Oliver and the painter Rowland Lockey, best known as a copyist working for Bess of Hardwick and her son the Earl of Devonshire.Edward Town, 'A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters 1547-1625' (Walpole Society, 2014), pp. 140-1, 183.Lorne Campbell, The early Flemish pictures in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen (Cambridge, 1985), p. xxxiii.
In Edinburgh he signed his name "Adrian Van Son".Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, 'James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588-1596', Scottish History Society Miscellany XVI (Woodbridge, 2020), p. 88.Kate Anderson, "Certane Picturis of His Majesties Visage: Tracing James VI's Succession Campaign through Visual and Material Display and Dissemination", British Art Studies 29 (December 2025), fig. 13. His relative or brother Abraham Vanson was in Edinburgh working as a goldsmith, and married Jonet Gilbert, a daughter of the goldsmith Alexander Gilbert and niece of the goldsmith and financier Michael Gilbert.Duncan Thomson, Painting in Scotland: 1570-1650 (Edinburgh, 1975), p. 25: Roll of Edinburgh Burgesses (Scottish Record Society, 1929), p. 503: Will of Michael Gilbert, NRS CC8/8/23 p. 564. Abraham Vanson's daughter Helen was baptised on 4 May 1595.'Extracts from Register of Baptisms, Edinburgh', Northern Notes and Queries 4:16 (1890), p. 174.
Career in Scotland Portraits and engravings of George Buchanan and John Knox
Portraits of John Knox and George Buchanan were sent to Geneva in November 1579 for inclusion as woodcuts in Theodore Beza's Icones (1580), but arrived too late for the book.David A. H. B. Taylor, "Damnatio Memoriae: Mary, Queen of Scots' Iconography", Steven J. Reid, Afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 2024), p. 35. According to a letter sent by the king's tutor Peter Young on 13 November 1579, the pictures were contained in a cylindrical box or case described as "una pyxide". Young also described Knox's appearance. A pair of later round portraits of James VI and Anne of Denmark attributed to Vanson fit together like a box, and perhaps this form may be related to Young's use of the word "pyxide".P. Hume Brown, John Knox: A Biography, 2 (London, 1895), pp. 290, 321–324: Duncan Thomson, The life and art of George Jamesone (Oxford, 1974), pp. 46–47.
Adrian Vanson's first recorded works for James VI in Scotland were two pictures to be sent to Theodore Beza in Geneva, for which he was paid £8-10s in June 1581.Duncan Thomson, Painting in Scotland (Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 1975), pp. 25–26, 28–29; citing NRS E21/62 f.135v: P. Hume Brown, John Knox: A Biography, 2 (London, 1895), p. 321. The woodcuts of Knox and James VI published in Simon Goulart's 1581 edition of the Icones are thought to follow Vanson's portraits. Another woodcut image of George Buchanan, not used in the Icones, but appearing in other works, has been attributed to Arnold Bronckorst.Cameron, J. K., "Further information on Portraits of George Buchanan", Scottish Historical Review, vol. 42, no. 134, part 2 (Oct. 1963), pp. 135-142: Thomson (1975) does not discuss the Buchanan. A portrait of John Knox held by the University of Edinburgh has been attributed to Adrian Vanson.Jane Dawson, John Knox (Yale, 2015), pp. 6, 322 fn. 7: "True face of John Knox is discovered hanging on wall of university library", The Herald, 30 April 2003
Lord Seton's painter A letter sent to George Bowes in 1579 describes a Flemish painter making a portrait of James VI at Stirling Castle. The portrait was to be sent to England for Elizabeth I.Cuthbert Sharp, Memorials of the Rebellion of 1569 (London, 1840), p. 392: Patrick Fraser Tytler, History of Scotland vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1842), p. 418: Duncan Thomson, Painting in Scotland 1570–1650 (Edinburgh, 1975), p. 9. Arnold Bronckhorst was appointed the king's painter on 19 September 1581. It seems that both Vanson and Bronckhorst worked at the Scottish court, and surviving portraits and records also suggest the presence of other unknown artists.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 80 no. 474.
Vanson may perhaps have been "Lord Seton's painter", who was recorded drawing portraits of "his majesteis visage" for coins at the mint in Edinburgh in January 1581/1582, to be used by Thomas Foulis.Duncan Thomson, The life and art of George Jamesone (Oxford, 1974), p. 47: Duncan Thomson, Painting in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1975), pp. 25, 31: Robert Cochran-Patrick, Records of the coinage of Scotland, 1 (Edinburgh, 1876), p. 248: National Records of Scotland, E21/62 f169v. Lord Seton had served as a diplomat and had various European contacts, and his third son John Seton of Barns had joined the household of the Earl of Leicester in England 1575.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 120.
1583 and the double portrait In October 1582, Mary, Queen of Scots, wrote to the French ambassador Michel de Castelnau in cipher code about a new type of portrait of James VI that he had sent her, presumably differing from the pictures made by Arnold Bronckorst.George Lasry, Norbert Biermann, Satoshi Tomokiyo, "Deciphering Mary Stuart's lost letters from 1578-1584", Cryptologia, 47:2 (February 2023), p. 56. Probably in or after 1583, a French engraver, Jean Rabel, made engravings of a portrait resembling the paintings of James VI at Edinburgh Castle and at Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries (dated 1583). A portrait of this type may have been made for a potential French bride for James, such as the Protestant Catherine of Bourbon and the Catholic Christina of Lorraine.Susan Doran, David Hasberg Zirak-Schmidt, Paulina Kewes, "Visualising James VI and I in Continental Europe" in British Art Studies, 29 (December 2025). The surviving paintings are attributed to Vanson, Bronckhorst, or an unknown artist. Rabel and Thomas de Leu worked for the French court and engraved Mary's portrait,David A. H. B. Taylor, "Damnatio Memoriae: Mary, Queen of Scots' Iconography", Steven J. Reid, Afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 2024), p. 44. the portraits of Castelnau and his wife Marie de Bochetel, and the Castelnau coat of arms.Engraved portrait of James VI by Jean Rabel, Princeton1580s Engraved portrait of James VI by Jean Rabel, RMNJames VI and I as a Youth, DunfermlinePortrait of James VI of Scotland, VADS A double portrait of Mary and James, related to plans for their rule in "association" and dated 1583, has a similar depiction of James' face and bonnet.Clare Jackson, The Mirror of Great Britain: A Life of James VI and I (Allen Lane, 2025), p. 95: Kate Anderson, Art & Court of James VI & I (Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 2025), p. 84.David A. H. B. Taylor, "Damnatio Memoriae: Mary, Queen of Scots' Iconography", Steven J. Reid, Afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 2024), p. 49.
King's painter Adrian Vanson succeeded Arnold Bronckhorst as "King's painter" in Scotland in May 1584.Thomson, Duncan, Painting in Scotland 1570-1650 (Edinburgh, 1975), p. 25. His appointment and yearly fee of £100 was confirmed by privy seal letter on 20 August 1584.Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 396 no. 2287. When he was made a burgess of Edinburgh on 30 December 1585,Roll of Edinburgh Burgesses (Scottish Record Society, 1929), p. 503. it was hoped he would teach his craft to apprentices.Extracts from the records of the burgh of Edinburgh: 1573-1589 (Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1882), p. 446. No records of apprentices, or a workshop have been found. Vanson did not join the Edinburgh craft of Mason and Wrights, which welcomed painter-glaziers. However, technical investigation of portraits thought to be in the Vanson oeuvre reveal a variety of technique, pointing to the work of more than one artist, either in his or other workshops.Kate Anderson, 'Jewels in Sixteenth-Century Scottish Portraits', Anna Groundwater, Decoding the Jewels: Renaissance Jewellery in Scotland (Sidestone Press: NMS, 2024), p. 148.
Attributed portraits include James VI; Anne of Denmark; Patrick Lyon, Lord Glamis; Sir Thomas Kennedy of Culzean; Agnes Douglas, Countess of Argyll.Thomson, Duncan, Painting in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1975), pp. 25-31.Painters in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1978), p. 99. Vanson's James VI of circa 1585 survives at Edinburgh castle. Some pictures are known through later copies or imitations, including a portrait of James Anstruther originally painted in 1591.Duncan Thomson, Painting in Scotland, 1570-1650 (Edinburgh, 1975), p. 57.
The only painter in Edinburgh Mary, Queen of Scots requested a full size portrait of James VI drawn from life in April 1586. In May, a French ambassador in Scotland, the Baron d'Esneval, promised to get Mary, Queen of Scots a copy of a recent portrait of James VI from the only painter in Edinburgh, presumably meaning Vanson.David A. H. B. Taylor, "Damnatio Memoriae: Mary, Queen of Scots' Iconography", Steven J. Reid, Afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 2024), p. 40.Agnes Strickland, Letters of Mary Stuart, vol. 3 (London, 1843), p. 194: A. Labanoff, Lettres de Marie Stuart, vol. 6 (London, 1844), pp. 270-1, Mary had asked d'Esneval; "Je vous prie me recouvrer de mon filz ung sien pourtraict en grand, faict sur sa personne propre," Chartley 30 April 1586. James sent Peter Young and Colonel William Stewart to Denmark to discuss his potential marriage on 20 July.William Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1914), pp. 336 no. 362, 566 no. 635. It is sometimes suggested that the picture at Edinburgh Castle, which has an inscription in German, was made by Vanson for this embassy or a similar purpose. Another portrait now at Falkland Palace is dated 1586 and may have been made to sent abroad.See 'information from Philip Mould' in external links.
Maitland and the hidden portrait of Mary A portrait of John Maitland of Thirlestane by Vanson at Ham House was valued at £2 in 1683.Alastair Laing, 'Fitting Rooms to Pictures', Christopher Rowell, Ham House (Yale, 2013), pp. 417, 427 no. 87.'Sir John Maitland', National Trust, NT 1139943 Examination by Caroline Rae in 2016 showed that it was painted over an image of Mary, Queen of Scots.Revealing Ham House’s hidden portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots
Banners and heraldry Vanson also painted heraldry on banners for the king's trumpeters, and ceremonial spears and banners and painted the Danish royal arms on banners for the coronation of Anne of Denmark.Susan Doran, From Tudor to Stuart: The regime change from Elizabeth I to James I (Oxford University Press, 2024), p. 47. He also painted a taffeta banner or pencel for the Hammermen craft for Anne's Entry to Edinburgh.James Thomson Gibson-Craig, Papers Relative to the Marriage of King James the Sixth of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1836), Appendix p. 16Maureen Meikle, "Anna of Denmark's Coronation and Entry", Julian Goodare & Alasdair A. MacDonald, Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Brill, 2008), p. 283.
King James referred to portraiture and the art of the painting by alluding to Saint Luke, patron of painters, in his sonnet To the Queene: Your loving lookes may make me calme to be How oft yow see me have an heavie hart