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Lot Essay
The sitter was painted in profile in two different versions by Honthorst, both designed as pendants to the versions of the Portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, in profile, for which see Judson and Ekkart, op. cit., p. 263, no. 337, fig. 337. Of the other version of the Winter King, depicting him in armour, Judson and Ekkart list four versions, all studio or later works, and hypothesize that they derive from a lost original (op. cit., p. 259, under no. 331). The present picture is the prime version of its type, of which there are two known studio versions (Hanover, Provinzialmuseum, formerly Hanover, Royal Collection; and whereabouts unknown, formerly Anon. Sale, Internationales Kunsthaus, Berlin, 16 October 1934, no. 433, as Willem Honthorst; ibid., p. 260, under no. 332).
The son of Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, and Louise Juliana, Countess of Nassau, Frederick V succeeded his father to the Electorate in 1610. In 1619, he was elected King of Bohemia following the death of the Emperor Matthias. The Protestant nobility of Bohemia had the year before risen in revolt against the Romanist policies of Matthias, and their choice of the Protestant Frederick was in direct opposition to the wishes of the new Emperor, Ferdinand, a staunch Catholic. These acts were the effective catalysts for the Thirty Years' War, which was precipitated in full the next year, 1620, by Ferdinand's invasion of Bohemia and expulsion of Frederick and Elizabeth. Subsequently known as the Winter King and Queen due to the brevity of their rule, they fled to the United Provinces, where they remained in The Hague under the protection of the Stadtholder.
During her exile, 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.
The son of Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, and Louise Juliana, Countess of Nassau, Frederick V succeeded his father to the Electorate in 1610. In 1619, he was elected King of Bohemia following the death of the Emperor Matthias. The Protestant nobility of Bohemia had the year before risen in revolt against the Romanist policies of Matthias, and their choice of the Protestant Frederick was in direct opposition to the wishes of the new Emperor, Ferdinand, a staunch Catholic. These acts were the effective catalysts for the Thirty Years' War, which was precipitated in full the next year, 1620, by Ferdinand's invasion of Bohemia and expulsion of Frederick and Elizabeth. Subsequently known as the Winter King and Queen due to the brevity of their rule, they fled to the United Provinces, where they remained in The Hague under the protection of the Stadtholder.
During her exile, 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.