Gerrit van Honthorst (Utrecht 1592-1656)

Portrait of Prince Edward of the Palatinate (1625-1663), three-quarter-length, in armour and a red mantle, a baton in his right hand, before a column

Details

Gerrit van Honthorst (Utrecht 1592-1656)
Portrait of Prince Edward of the Palatinate (1625-1663), three-quarter-length, in armour and a red mantle, a baton in his right hand, before a column
indistinctly signed and dated 'GHonthorst 164(5?)' (GH linked, lower left)
oil on canvas
43½ x 34¾ in. (110.5 x 88 cm.)
with inscription 'Prince Edw.Count Palatine.' (lower left)

Provenance

(Presumably) Princess Elizabeth, Electress Palatine, the Winter Queen of Bohemia (1596-1662), from whom passed either by direct gift or by eventual bequest from her son, Prince Rupert of the Rhine to
William, 1st Baron and Earl of Craven (1608-1697) and by descent to William, 4th Earl of Craven (1868-1921), Combe Abbey, Warwickshire (inv. no. 178), by whom bequeathed to his wife
Cornelia, Countess of Craven (d. 1961); Christie's, London, 13 April 1923, lot 106, as 'Justus' (unsold); (+) sale, Sotheby's, London, 27 November 1968, lot 46 (sold £1,800).

Literature

A.W. Ward, The Electress Sophia, London, 1903, illustrated facing p. 108.
W.J. Hoogsteder, De Schilderijen van Frederik en Elizabeth, Koning en Koningin van Bohemen, Doctoralscriptie, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, London and Utrecht, 1986, I, pp. 129-30, no. 80; II, p. 22; III, fig. 73.
J.R. Judson and R.E.O. Ekkart, Gerrit van Honthorst, 1592-1656, Doornspijk, 1999, p. 277, no. 371, pl. 264.

Exhibited

London, National Portrait Gallery.

Lot Essay

The eighth child of the Winter King and Queen, Edward of the Palatinate was raised in the exiled court of his parents in Holland and England. In 1645 he travelled to Paris, where he secretly married Anna, daughter of Duke Charles of Mantua-Gonzaga and Nevers. As a result of his marriage, he became a Catholic, in the face of the objections of his Protestant family. No other portrait of this type is recorded. Judson and Ekkart note that it must have been painted before the sitter left Amsterdam for Paris in 1645.

When in exile in The Hague, the 'Winter Queen' continued to add to her collection of portraits. This eventually passed to her loyal friend, William, 1st Earl of Craven, upon whose generosity she long depended. The collection was divided between his three houses, Hampstead Marshall and Ashdown in Berkshire, and Combe Abbey in Warwickshire.

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