King James II
© National Portrait Gallery, London
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King James II
by Wenceslaus Hollar
etching, circa 1670
12 3/8 in. x 8 3/4 in. (313 mm x 223 mm) plate size; 15 1/4 in. x 11 3/8 in. (387 mm x 288 mm) paper size
Reference Collection
NPG D18564
Artistback to top
- Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), Etcher. Artist or producer associated with 540 portraits, Sitter associated with 10 portraits.
Events of 1670back to top
Current affairs
Charles II mistress, Barbara Villiers, is created Duchess of Cleveland and granted Nonsuch Palace including its sizeable grounds.Actress and royal mistress, Nell Gwyn, gives birth to Charles II's son, Charles, who would later become, Duke of St. Albans.
Art and science
Tragicomedy, The Forc'd Marriage, by Aphra Behn, staged by the Duke's Company, starts Behn's career as a professional writer. The writer may have been a royalist spy towards the end of the interregnum.Poet laureate, John Dryden, is made historiographer royal, a post he would hold for nearly 20 years.
International
Terms of a secret treaty between Charles II and Louis XIV are brought by Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans during a visit to Dover; upon England supplying the majority of military power for a war against Holland and Charles's official conversion to Catholicism, France would assist financially.Comments back to top
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Peter Wardman
23 September 2015, 10:09
I believe this etching by Wenceslaus Hollar was originally produced in 1640 as a portrait of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland. After Percy`s death the plate was republished around 1670 and inscribed for Prince James, Duke of York (the future King James II). This is the later state you have in your collection which, therefore, is from c 1670 . Confusingly, the date on the original etching (1640) was not changed. However, since James would have only been 7 years old at that date, the portrait was clearly not originally created for him.