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Lot Essay
Princess Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia was the daughter of King James I of England and Queen Anne of Denmark and sister of Charles, later King of England. The present portrait is based on the original by Gerrit van Honthorst formerly in the Collection of the Earl of Craven, bequeathed to the National Gallery, London in 1965 by the Countess of Craven of Combe Abbey. The abbey was the childhood home of Princess Elizabeth until events surrounding the Gunpowder Plot forced her to flee to nearby Coventry for safety.
The painting by Honthorst, signed and dated 1642, was painted during Princess Elizabeth's exile in The Hague ten years after the death of her husband, Frederick V, Count Palatine of the Rhine and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, called the Winter King. He lost the throne of Bohemia in the Battle of the White Hill in 1620 when Catholic forces advanced on Prague and forced the Protestant couple to flee Bohemia.
The painting by Honthorst, signed and dated 1642, was painted during Princess Elizabeth's exile in The Hague ten years after the death of her husband, Frederick V, Count Palatine of the Rhine and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, called the Winter King. He lost the throne of Bohemia in the Battle of the White Hill in 1620 when Catholic forces advanced on Prague and forced the Protestant couple to flee Bohemia.
