Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (1594-1612) c. 1612
Watercolour on vellum laid on card | 6.1 x 4.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 420946
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This miniature is inscribed on the reverse with the date '1635'. This is presumably the date at which it was inventoried in the collection of Charles I, when it was described by Abraham van der Doort, Charles I's Surveyor of Pictures, as: 'Don upon the righte lighte the 6th beeing a Picture of Prince Henry upon an Ovall redd grounded Card in a lace Ruffe - and a gilded Armor with a blew Scarfe about his neck under a Christall' and '6 Don by Isaac Olliver after the life:'. At the time, it was housed in a frame of eight miniatures of Charles I's forebears and relatives which was kept in the Cabinet Room at Whitehall Palace. The miniature clearly derives from Oliver's large-scale cabinet miniature of Henry, Prince of Wales (420058: Royal Collection) but has been reduced to a smaller bust-length scale and to the oval format more traditional to the portrait minaiture form. Van der Doort's catalogue entry suggests that this miniature was completed from a sitting during the Prince's lifetime, although many other versions of this type (see for example 420057 and 420056) are likely to have been posthumous repetitions of this popular type. Signed in gold right: 'I.O' in monogram and inscribed on the reverse in ink '1635' [the date at which the miniature was inventoried in the collection of Charles I].
Provenance
Originally in the collection of James I; first listed in the collection of Charles I
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour on vellum laid on card
Measurements
6.1 x 4.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
7.8 x 6.4 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Henry, Prince of Wales (1594-1612)