Prince James Francis Edward Stuart
3 of 62 portraits of Prince James Francis Edward Stuart
- Overview
- Extended Catalogue Entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Prince James Francis Edward Stuart
after Alexis Simon Belle
oil on copper, 1712, based on a work of circa 1712
2 5/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. (67 mm x 54 mm) oval
Purchased, 1868
Primary Collection
NPG 273
Sitterback to top
- Prince James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766), Known as 'The Old Pretender'; son of James II. Sitter associated with 62 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Alexis Simon Belle (1674-1734), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 26 portraits.
This portraitback to top
A miniature copy deriving from a portrait by Alexis Simeon Belle. More detailed information on this portrait is available in a National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue, John Kerslake's Early Georgian Portraits (1977, out of print).
Linked publicationsback to top
- Kerslake, John, Early Georgian Portraits, 1977, p. 155
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 332
- Walker, Richard, Miniatures: 300 Years of the English Miniature, 1998, p. 49 Read entry
The portrait of Prince James, the 'Old Pretender', is in oil, and a characteristic example of the medium. It is one of several contemporary copies of a well-known portrait type, painted in full-scale by Alexis-Simon Belle, probably while Belle was working as court painter to the exiled Stuart court in St Germain-en-Laye (Belle's original is now at Versailles). Oil miniatures never attained the same popularity in England as they enjoyed on the Continent.
Events of 1712back to top
Current affairs
Whig MP, Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford is found guilty by Parliament of 'a high breach of trust and notorious corruption', over reserving army forage contracts for banker, Robert Mann, and imprisoned in the Tower. Walpole would later become the first British Prime Minister in all but name in 1721.Art and science
Mock epic poem, The Rape of the Lock, by satirical poet Alexander Pope is first published.Ironmonger Thomas Newcomen demonstrates his invention of the atmospheric steam engine in London.
Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery, commissions a mechanical solar system model from mechanic John Rowley who names it an orrery.
International
Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford and John Robinson, bishop of Bristol, are appointed plenipotentiaries to the Utrecht peace congress. Foundations for peace between Britain and France, were based on preliminary agreements previously negotiated in London and Paris, the details of which were unbeknownst to the plenipotentiaries or Britain's allies.Comments back to top
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