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Prince Charles, more commonly known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ or
the ‘Young Pretender’, was the grandson of the deposed Stuart King
James II of England, and the nephew of the future Queens Mary II
and Anne. It was the Prince who instigated the Jacobite Uprising of
1745; a movement to restore King James II and his heirs to the
throne. Had this movement been successful, Charles would have
ascended the throne after his grandfather and father, and ruled as
King Charles III. However, the Jacobites were defeated by the
Redcoats in the Battle of Culloden and Charles fled to France,
where he spent the rest of his life in exile.
Until now, there was thought to be no surviving portrait of the
Prince painted in his lifetime in Britain. However, art historian
Bendor Grosvenor was able to confirm it was in fact a portrait of
Charles after the painting was taken out of hiding after being
concealed from the public eye for more than 250 years in the
collection of the Earls of Wemyss at Gosford House outside
Edinburgh, Scotland.
Painted in oil on canvas by Allan Ramsay, the portrait dates back
to 1745, the year of the ill-fated Jacobite Uprising. It was
painted in the the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence
of the British Monarch in Scotland.
Bendor Grosvenor’s discovery of the portrait came after his
shocking revelation a few years ago, in which he revealed that the
Scottish National Portrait Gallery’s iconic portrait of Charles was
in fact that of his brother, Henry. Mr Grosvenor was led to the
portrait after he found a letter summoning Ramsay to paint a
portrait of Charles. This finding was followed by another, that of
a black and while photograph of a painting of Charles in the
National Portrait Gallery in London. When checked later, records at
Gosford House showed that the portrait had been identified as a
Ramsay, and an attribution was later confirmed by Dr. Duncan
Thomas, the former director of the Scottish National Portrait
Gallery and an expert on the works of Ramsay.
Mr. Grosvenor had the following to say about the
discovery: “Bonnie Prince Charlie is one of my heroes, and I
always felt bad about debunking what used to be his most famous
portrait. So I’m delighted to have found the best possible
replacement – a portrait painted from life on the eve of his
invasion of England.”
Photo credit: BBC]]>
