Prince James Francis Edward Stuart (James III) (1688 - 1766), 'The Old Pretender'
after Alexis-Simon Belle (Paris 1674 – Paris 1734)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1710 - circa 1715
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
770 x 610 mm
Place of origin
France
Order this imageCollection
Lacock, Wiltshire
NT 996486
Caption
The sitter was the only surviving son of the exiled James II (of England and Ireland) and VII (of Scotland) and Mary of Modena. After his father’s deposition in 1688 he was raised in France, and on his father’s death in 1701 he declared himself King. His status was only recognised by France, Spain and the Papal States. This portrait shows him dressed in armour and blue sash, recalling his military campaigns to reclaim the British throne (1706, 1708, and 1715), all of which were unsuccessful. This original type of portrait of him may have been painted before his subsequent exile in Rome and his marriage to the Polish princess Maria Clementina Sobieska in 1719. This picture is after an original in Edinburgh Castle.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Prince James Francis Edward Stuart (James III), 'The Old Pretender' (1688 - 1766), after Alexis-Simon Belle Paris 1674 – Paris 1734), circa 1710/15. After an original in Edinbugh Castle it depicts James VIII and III ('The Old Pretender'). A half-length painted oval portrait, in profile, his head facing the viewer. As the only surviving son of the exiled James VII and II and his queen, Mary of Modena, he was raised in France after his father's deposition in 1688. This portrait shows him dressed in armour and blue sash of the Order of the Garter, recalling his military campaigns to reclaim the British throne (1706, 1708, 1715), all of which were unsuccessful. This orignal type of portrait of him may have been painted before his subsequent exile in Rome and his marriage to the Polish princess Maria Clementina Sobieska in 1719.
Provenance
bought by private treaty from Petronella Dittmer, Mrs. Burnett-Brown, 2009
Credit line
Lacock Abbey (National Trust)
Makers and roles
after Alexis-Simon Belle (Paris 1674 – Paris 1734), artist