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Lot Essay
Born Princess Elizabeth Stuart of Scotland, the sitter was the eldest daughter of James VI of Scotland, later King James I of England (see lot 109), and his Queen Consort Anne of Denmark, and the sister of King Charles I. She was christened Elizabeth after her godmother, Queen Elizabeth I. Following her father's accession to the English throne in 1603, she was brought to England and entrusted to the care of Lord and Lady Harington of Exton at Combe Abbey, near Coventry. Part of the plan for the abortive Gunpowder Plot of 1605 had been to kidnap the Princess from Combe and place her on the English throne, assassinating the King and Prince of Wales.
The Princess was particularly close to her older brother, Henry, Prince of Wales, and in 1608 the French ambassador reported that the Prince had promised his sister that he would not marry one of King Henri IV's daughters unless she went to France with him as the Dauphin's betrothed. King James I, however, intended that she have a Protestant husband, and Frederick V, Elector Palatine, grandson of the famous Protestant hero William the Silent, youngest son of William of Orange, and brother and successor of Prince Maurice, was chosen. He was received at Whitehall in October 1612 after months of negotiation, but the fanfare and excitement of his arrival was soon overshadowed by the sudden illness of Prince Henry, who died on 6 November 1612, probably of typhoid.
Frederick and Elizabeth's short reign as King and Queen of Bohemia ended in 1621, and Elizabeth became known as the 'Winter Queen' and sometimes the 'Queen of Hearts' because of her popularity. The rest of her life was largely spent in exile at the Hague, though she cannily used portraiture to publicise her plight, dispatching numerous portraits of herself and her family to potential allies and supporters. Nonetheless, Elizabeth remained in Holland even after her son Charles I Louis regained his father's electorship in 1648, only returning to England at the restoration of her nephew King Charles II in 1660. She died the following year, and her grandson through her daughter, Sophia, Electress of Hanover, later became King George I of England.
The present miniature compares with a similar portrait of Elizabeth of Bohemia which is also set in a gold frame with enamelled reverse with the sitter's initials, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh. (inv. no. 2008.292) and another version is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. SK-A-4304). We are indebted to Cory Korkow, Assistant Curator of European Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, for drawing our attention to this.
The Princess was particularly close to her older brother, Henry, Prince of Wales, and in 1608 the French ambassador reported that the Prince had promised his sister that he would not marry one of King Henri IV's daughters unless she went to France with him as the Dauphin's betrothed. King James I, however, intended that she have a Protestant husband, and Frederick V, Elector Palatine, grandson of the famous Protestant hero William the Silent, youngest son of William of Orange, and brother and successor of Prince Maurice, was chosen. He was received at Whitehall in October 1612 after months of negotiation, but the fanfare and excitement of his arrival was soon overshadowed by the sudden illness of Prince Henry, who died on 6 November 1612, probably of typhoid.
Frederick and Elizabeth's short reign as King and Queen of Bohemia ended in 1621, and Elizabeth became known as the 'Winter Queen' and sometimes the 'Queen of Hearts' because of her popularity. The rest of her life was largely spent in exile at the Hague, though she cannily used portraiture to publicise her plight, dispatching numerous portraits of herself and her family to potential allies and supporters. Nonetheless, Elizabeth remained in Holland even after her son Charles I Louis regained his father's electorship in 1648, only returning to England at the restoration of her nephew King Charles II in 1660. She died the following year, and her grandson through her daughter, Sophia, Electress of Hanover, later became King George I of England.
The present miniature compares with a similar portrait of Elizabeth of Bohemia which is also set in a gold frame with enamelled reverse with the sitter's initials, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh. (inv. no. 2008.292) and another version is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. SK-A-4304). We are indebted to Cory Korkow, Assistant Curator of European Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, for drawing our attention to this.