A portrait of Cardinal Georges d'Armagnac and his secretary Guillaume Philandrier, c.1536-38 (oil on canvas)

Cardinal Georges d'Armagnac (1500/1-1585) and his secretary, Guillaume Philandrier (1505/6-1565). The Cardinal is wearing black with a fur collar and brown beard, seated slightly to right front, a paper in his left hand in his lap. His right hand, a ring on first finger, on the chair arm. On right his secretary with dark beard wearing red and black sits writing on a paper, on a green covered table, his head profile left, looking at the other. In left background an embroidered orange and leaves, held by a ribbon, surmounted by a crown. A landscape beyond. Probably painted in 1536-38 when d'Armagnac was French ambassador at Venice. This was one of the first paintings by Titian to enter a British collection and was an important influence on subsequent artists, including Van Dyck during his time in England.