Portrait of James Scott, Duke of Monmouth and 1st Duke of Buccleuch (1649-1685), bust-length, in armour

The sitter was the illegitimate son of King Charles II and Lucy Walter, who met during the King's brief visit to The Hague in July 1648. Charles had James kidnapped in 1658 but saw little of him until the summer of 1662 when James joined the Royal Court and quickly won his father's favour. In March 1663, James was created Duke of Monmouth, Earl of Doncaster and Baron of Fotheringay, and the following month he married the wealthy Scottish heiress, Anna Scott, Countess of Buccleuch (1651-1732), and was additionally created Duke of Buccleuch, Earl of Dalkeith, and Lord Scott of Whitchester and Eskdale. In 1666, he entered the army as a cavalry captain and rose quickly through the ranks; by 1678 he was appointed Captain-General of all the land forces of England, Wales and Berwick, and led successful campaigns against France in Flanders in 1678 and against the Scottish uprising the following year. Monmouth was popular with the opposition led by Lord Shaftesbury, who campaigned for Monmouth to be named in the succession. Relations between the King and Monmouth deteriorated however and he was exiled in 1679. On the death of King Charles II in 1685, Monmouth assembled an invasion force in the Low Countries and landed at Lyme Regis in June of that year, but his army was defeated at Bridgewater in July and Monmouth was imprisoned in the Tower before being executed. The earliest likeness of Monmouth is a drawing of circa 1660 by Samuel Cooper (Royal Collection). His portrait was painted later by Sir Peter Lely, Sir Godfrey Kneller and William Wissing. The attitude of this portrait relates quite closely to a full-length of Monmouth recorded in the Heinz Archive, National Portrait Gallery, London, which has been attributed to both Kneller and John Riley.