Anthony Maria Browne, second Viscount Montagu
Robert Peake the Elder
ca. 1594
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.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0