Portrait of Virginio Cesarini (1653-1703)

October 1620

First Trip to London to the Court of James I

In October 1620, at the age of twenty-one, Van Dyck moved to London to the court of King James I at the urging of the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Arundel; he received an annual pension of one hundred pounds sterling from the king.

20 November 1621

Departure for Italy, Arrival in Genoa

In 1621 Van Dyck decided to go to Italy; Rubens supplied him with funds and letters of introduction. On 20 November 1621 he arrived in Genoa and remained in Italy for six years, where his fame as a portraitist was consolidated.

winter 1622

Winter in Venice, Studying Titian

Van Dyck spent the winter of 1622 in Venice, where, accompanied by Titian's nephew Cesare Vecellio, he fulfilled a long-held dream of seeing the works of Titian and Paolo Veronese; on the way he stopped in Bologna and Parma, where he admired Correggio's frescoes.

February 1622

Journey to Rome

In February 1622 Van Dyck left for Rome, where he stayed until August of that year and for most of 1623; he was introduced into the best circles of society and copied Renaissance masterpieces at the Palazzo Ludovisi and the Villa Borghese.