Leonard Fryer (16th-century artist)
Leonard Fryer or Frier (died 1605) was an English artist who served the royal court, primarily as a decorative painter.[1]
Career
He was probably a son of William Fryer, a London painter, and Anne Owen, a daughter of a Hondsditch gunfounder John Owen. Fryer joined the London Painter-Stainers Company in 1576.[2]
Fryer was a
Queen Elizabeth employed Leonard Fryer to decorate the long gallery at Oatlands with a woodgrain pattern in 1598. He primed the panelling with white lead paint and then painted imitation "flotherwoode", with gold and silver highlights on the mouldings, with arabesque patterns and paintwork of "markatree", perhaps resembling marquetry. He finished the graining with "sweet varnish", probably chosen for its pleasing scent.[5]
Fryer painted banners and gilded replicas of the
Fryer's will mentions an outstanding debt for painting at the
The Painter-Stainers' Hall in London contains a richly chased cup presented by Leonard Fryer to the company in 1605.
A family business
Leonard's brother Robert Fryer (died 1617) was also a painter, although details of his work have not been discovered. Robert and Leonard's sons were also painters. They signed a petition about
References
- ^ Edward Town, 'A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters, 1547-1625', Walpole Society Volume, 76 (2014), pp. 82-4.
- ^ Edward Town, 'A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters, 1547-1625', Walpole Society Volume, 76 (2014), p. 82.
- ^ Christina Young, 'The Changing Role and Status of Scenic Artists in England', Nicola Costaras & Christina Young, Setting the Scene (London, 2013), p. 100
- ^ Edward Town, 'A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters, 1547-1625', Walpole Society Volume, 76 (2014), p. 83.
- ^ Ian C. Bristow, Architectural Colour in British Interiors, 1615-1840 (Yale, 1996), pp. 2, 11.
- ^ Ian W. Archer, 'City and Court Connected: The Material Dimensions of Royal Ceremonial, ca. 1480โ1625', Huntington Library Quarterly, 71:1 (March 2008), p. 163.
- ^ Edward Town, 'A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters, 1547-1625', Walpole Society Volume, 76 (2014), p. 83.
- ^ Edward Town, 'A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters, 1547-1625', Walpole Society Volume, 76 (2014), p. 83: Ian W. Archer, 'City and Court Connected: The Material Dimensions of Royal Ceremonial, ca. 1480โ1625', Huntington Library Quarterly, 71:1 (March 2008), p. 175.
- ^ Edward Town, 'A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters, 1547-1625', Walpole Society Volume, 76 (2014), p. 84.
- ^ Edward Town, 'A Biographical Dictionary of London Painters, 1547-1625', Walpole Society Volume, 76 (2014), p. 84.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Fryer, Leonard". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885โ1900.