Antonio David (1698-1750), Portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’

Antonio David (1698-1750)
Portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’
1734-35
Watercolour-on-ivory
2 7/8 x 2 ½ in. (3 3/8 x 2 ¾ in. framed)

This exquisite portrait miniature of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’) was painted by Antonio David (1698-1750), principal painter to the exiled Stuarts in Rome at the time of its execution.



Charles is depicted at the age of 14 when he and his brother Henry Benedict sat for separate portraits by David in the winter of 1734-35. As well as this piece, one larger scaled version of the prince has survived (Hawthorndon Castle), as well as another miniature version in the Drambuie Collection which has been loaned to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/91121/miniature-three-quarter-length-portrait-prince-charles-edward-stuart-black-armour (previously sold at the Christie’s Fingask Castle sale (26-28.4.93): https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-2691265?ldp_breadcrumb=back&intObjectID=2691265&from=salessummary&lid=1). Charles is depicted looking over his right shoulder wearing full armour for the first time following his partaking in the Siege of Gaeta, 1734, thus exhibiting the prince’s increasingly central role in the Jacobite cause and propaganda campaign as he came of an age to fight for his inheritance. Charles is decorated with a bright blue Garter sash overlayed with his St Andrew medal of the Thistle hanging upon a green riband.



Dr. Edward T. Corp has written in relation to this miniature that, ‘The portrait was painted by Antonio David in 1734-35,’ and that although David operated a busy studio, ‘David would have handed over the miniature as his own work and been paid for producing it. James Edgar, James III’s private secretary, wrote in November 1734 that when the new portrait had been finished it would “be my care” that a copy for one of his friends “shall be done from and as well as possibly can be.”’ The exquisite quality of this piece standing as testimony to this nearly three centuries later. We would like thank Dr. Corp for his assistance (citations from email exchange).

Literature:

Corp, ‘The King Over the Water: Portraits of the Stuart in Exile after 1689’, 2001, p. 63 (for David’s producing several miniatures as well as larger scaled pieces; 70; 110), c. 1634-5.

Provenance:
Darnley Fine Art, London