Sir Edward Petre, 3rd Bt; Mary of Modena; Prince James Francis Edward Stuart

1 portrait of Mary of Modena

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© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Sir Edward Petre, 3rd Bt; Mary of Modena; Prince James Francis Edward Stuart

attributed to Pieter Schenck
mezzotint, 1688 or after
9 7/8 in. x 7 1/8 in. (250 mm x 182 mm) plate size; 10 1/2 in. x 7 5/8 in. (266 mm x 195 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D10694

On display in Room 7 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery

Sittersback to top

Artistback to top

  • Pieter Schenck (1660-1711), Engraver and publisher. Artist or producer associated with 50 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The Catholic king James II was overthrown in 1688 when the birth of a male heir led parliament to invite his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange to invade from Holland. This satirical print was produced as part of a propaganda campaign to cast doubts over the new prince's legitimacy. It parodies official prints of the mother and child by implying that the infant's real father is the Jesuit priest Edward Petre. A parallel accusation that the baby was born to a miller's wife and smuggled into the queen's bedchamber in a warming pan is referenced by the toy windmill in the cradle. These rumours successfully undermined James II's authority and helped pave the way for the revolution.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Cannadine, Sir David (Introduction); Cooper, Tarnya; Stewart, Louise; MacGibbon, Rab; Cox, Paul; Peltz, Lucy; Moorhouse, Paul; Broadley, Rosie; Jascot-Gill, Sabina, Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits, 2018 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA, 7 October 2018 -3 February 2019. Bendigo Art Gallery, Australia, 16 March - 14 July 2019.), p. 142

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1688back to top

Current affairs

The Glorious Revolution. Senior statesmen, increasingly resentful of James's assault upon liberties of his subjects, invite William III of Orange to invade England. Their action is spurred on by the acquittal of seven bishops who refused to read James II's declaration of indulgence from their pulpits. James flees into exile.

Art and science

George Savile, Marquess of Halifax, publishes his political tract, The Character of a Trimmer, written 1685, which urged Charles II to shake off his brother's influence.
Writer, Aphra Behn, publishes Oroonoko, often considered to be an abolitionist treatise.


International

Nine Years' War. Threatened by William III's invasion of England and possible alliance of Protestant European states under his helm, Louis XIV sends French troops into the Rhineland. This pre-emptive strike ignites a war of attrition, and institutes a coalition of European states united in attempting to halt expansionist France.

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