The Three Eldest Children of Charles I
after Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1700 - 1799
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1365 x 1518 mm (53 3/4 x 59 3/4 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Lacock, Wiltshire
NT 996292
Caption
This is a version of an original painting in the Royal Collection. It is a charming and very popular image of the royal children. There are many copies of this composition and of the later, larger portrait with five children, which can be found throughout all the National Trust collections. Its appeal extended beyond supporters of the Stuarts.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Three Eldest Children of CharlesI (Charles, Prince of Wales (1630 – 1685), Mary, Princess Royal (1631 – 1660), and James, Duke of York [1633 – 1701]), after Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641). The original version is in the Royal Collection. One of many copies, others of which are from Stourhead at Montacute House and the earliest at Kingston Lacy.
Full description
The original portrait is in the Royal Collection (133.4 x 151.8 cm.), itself a development of the earlier composition now in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin, and which must have been finished by the end of 1636 (25th March o.s.). In this second picture, the elder boy is now wearing breeches, is accompanied by two King Charles Spaniels, and is set within an adapted interior (see O. Millar in 'Van Dyck. A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings', New Haven & London, 2004, IV.61, p.479). There are numerous copies of this composition (listed in op.cit.supra), including versions at Kingston Lacy and Stourhead. A copy of 'The five eldest Children of Charles I' is also at Lacock (P/61).
Provenance
Given by Matilda Theresa Talbot (formerly Gilchrist-Clark) (1871 – 1958), who gave the Abbey, the village of Lacock and the rest of the estate to the National Trust in 1944, along with 96 of the family portraits and other pictures, in 1948
Credit line
Lacock Abbey, The Talbot Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
after Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641), artist