拍品專文
Charles Edward Stuart was the eldest son of King James III and of Princess Clementine. He was born in Rome in 1720 and, due to the defects in character of his father, quickly became the focus of the Jacobite cause. Backed by France, Charles Edward begun to plan an expedition in England in 1740, and left Rome secretely. Following the failed invasion of England by the French fleet under the command of Marshall Saxe their help rapidly evaporated. Despite this setback Charles Edward continued his plans and in 1745 he borrowed 180,000 livres and pawned his jewels, and embarked to Scotland.
As he had hoped many of the Highland clans rallied to his cause and the Jacobite army, ably led by Lord George Murray, outwitted the English armies. The Jacobite army reached Derbyshire and although the road to London was open, Murray and the senior officers concerned by the absence of English support for the Prince persuaded the Young Pretender to order a retreat to Scotland. The large English force led by the Duke of Cumberland finally caught up with the smaller and weary Jacobite army on Culloden Moor on the 16th April 1745. The rebels were defeated with appalling losses and the Prince fled the battle. Despite the large bounty on his head he managed to avoid detection by hiding out in the Hebrides from April to September 1746. He was picked up by a French ship and returned to France. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 between the French and the English, stipulated that he should be expelled from France.
For the next ten year the Prince's movements are little known, although it is probable that he visited England on at least one occasion. His failure to reactivate the Jacobite cause was, in part, due to his excessive drinking which had begun in his period in the Hebrides to keep out the bitter cold of Scotland. In 1766 following the death of his father he decided to join his brother, the Cardinal of York, in Rome and be officially presented to the Pope. In 1772, in exchange for a pension from France, Charles married Louisa, Princess of Stolberg. The mariage soon failed because of his drinking and Louisa left him for the poet Alfieri. He moved to Florence where his illegitimate daughter, whom he created Duchess of Albany, cared for him until his death in Rome in 1788. King George III graciously paid for a monument by Canova to be erected over the tomb of James III and his two sons in Saint Peter's, Rome.
The present portrait probably dates from the period before his expulsion from France. From August to September 1748, Maurice Quentin de la Tour presented to the Salon fifteen portraits, and amongst them was, as number 80, the present pastel titled Le Prince Edouard. The critics were very enthusiastic, one anonymous critic even said about the portrait: 'On se sent frappé de respect à la vue du portrait d'un prince dont toute l'Europe admire la hauteur dans l'âme, l'audace, le courage, les talens, et les vertus' Observations sur les arts et sur quelques morceaux de peinture et sculpture exposés au Louvre en 1748..., quoted in A. Besnard, La Tour, La Vie et l'Oeuvre de l'Artiste, Paris, 1928, p.46.
The portrait exhibited at the Salon is mentioned in Charles' inventory in 1785 in Florence, and was though to be lost (Extract from the Stuart papers, Royal Archives, IV, Windsor, p. 4), and was known through an engraving and numerous copies. A contemporary engraving made by Michel Aubert (1700-1757), differs slightly from the present pastel, mainly in the armour and in the format, as the sitter is seen through a simulated oval window, and hence his right arm (reversed in the print) which is clearly raised is almost entirely hidden, J. Kerslake, Early Georgian Portraits, London, 1977, II, fig. 119. Later copies that are based on the present drawing, although without the raised arm, include drawings sold in these Rooms, 12 July 1963, lot 179, at Sotheby's, London, 24 January 1962, lot 57 and exhibited at the Early Georgian Portrait exhibition (illustrated in ibid., II, fig. 122). Other copies with the sitter in the same pose were in the Hamilton Collection at Townley Hall and a miniature was in the Royal Stuart exhibition in 1949, not catalogued (ibid., p. 40).
The fact that the known copies do not follow exactly the present prototype would suggest that a copy or version of the portrait was made of the Salon pastel. If, as seems likely, the present drawing was the portrait that the Prince kept when he was hounded out of France it would not have been available for artists to copy. The present drawing is, in addition, of a quality and size which corresponds with the type of highly finished pastel portraits that La Tour exhibited at the Salon. The portrait of King Louis XV, now in the Louvre exhibited at the Salon in the same year is comparable in the brilliance of handling in the depiction of the reflection on the armour and the modelling of the face with that of the present portrait (G. Monnier, Musée du Louvre. Pastels XVIIe et XVIIIe Siècles, Paris, 1972, no. 66, illustrated)
As he had hoped many of the Highland clans rallied to his cause and the Jacobite army, ably led by Lord George Murray, outwitted the English armies. The Jacobite army reached Derbyshire and although the road to London was open, Murray and the senior officers concerned by the absence of English support for the Prince persuaded the Young Pretender to order a retreat to Scotland. The large English force led by the Duke of Cumberland finally caught up with the smaller and weary Jacobite army on Culloden Moor on the 16th April 1745. The rebels were defeated with appalling losses and the Prince fled the battle. Despite the large bounty on his head he managed to avoid detection by hiding out in the Hebrides from April to September 1746. He was picked up by a French ship and returned to France. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 between the French and the English, stipulated that he should be expelled from France.
For the next ten year the Prince's movements are little known, although it is probable that he visited England on at least one occasion. His failure to reactivate the Jacobite cause was, in part, due to his excessive drinking which had begun in his period in the Hebrides to keep out the bitter cold of Scotland. In 1766 following the death of his father he decided to join his brother, the Cardinal of York, in Rome and be officially presented to the Pope. In 1772, in exchange for a pension from France, Charles married Louisa, Princess of Stolberg. The mariage soon failed because of his drinking and Louisa left him for the poet Alfieri. He moved to Florence where his illegitimate daughter, whom he created Duchess of Albany, cared for him until his death in Rome in 1788. King George III graciously paid for a monument by Canova to be erected over the tomb of James III and his two sons in Saint Peter's, Rome.
The present portrait probably dates from the period before his expulsion from France. From August to September 1748, Maurice Quentin de la Tour presented to the Salon fifteen portraits, and amongst them was, as number 80, the present pastel titled Le Prince Edouard. The critics were very enthusiastic, one anonymous critic even said about the portrait: 'On se sent frappé de respect à la vue du portrait d'un prince dont toute l'Europe admire la hauteur dans l'âme, l'audace, le courage, les talens, et les vertus' Observations sur les arts et sur quelques morceaux de peinture et sculpture exposés au Louvre en 1748..., quoted in A. Besnard, La Tour, La Vie et l'Oeuvre de l'Artiste, Paris, 1928, p.46.
The portrait exhibited at the Salon is mentioned in Charles' inventory in 1785 in Florence, and was though to be lost (Extract from the Stuart papers, Royal Archives, IV, Windsor, p. 4), and was known through an engraving and numerous copies. A contemporary engraving made by Michel Aubert (1700-1757), differs slightly from the present pastel, mainly in the armour and in the format, as the sitter is seen through a simulated oval window, and hence his right arm (reversed in the print) which is clearly raised is almost entirely hidden, J. Kerslake, Early Georgian Portraits, London, 1977, II, fig. 119. Later copies that are based on the present drawing, although without the raised arm, include drawings sold in these Rooms, 12 July 1963, lot 179, at Sotheby's, London, 24 January 1962, lot 57 and exhibited at the Early Georgian Portrait exhibition (illustrated in ibid., II, fig. 122). Other copies with the sitter in the same pose were in the Hamilton Collection at Townley Hall and a miniature was in the Royal Stuart exhibition in 1949, not catalogued (ibid., p. 40).
The fact that the known copies do not follow exactly the present prototype would suggest that a copy or version of the portrait was made of the Salon pastel. If, as seems likely, the present drawing was the portrait that the Prince kept when he was hounded out of France it would not have been available for artists to copy. The present drawing is, in addition, of a quality and size which corresponds with the type of highly finished pastel portraits that La Tour exhibited at the Salon. The portrait of King Louis XV, now in the Louvre exhibited at the Salon in the same year is comparable in the brilliance of handling in the depiction of the reflection on the armour and the modelling of the face with that of the present portrait (G. Monnier, Musée du Louvre. Pastels XVIIe et XVIIIe Siècles, Paris, 1972, no. 66, illustrated)