OLD PRETENDER VERY YOUNG

[James Francis Edward Stuart] Der junge printz von Wallis [...]. [Germany] [1688-90].

Foreign-printed propagandist portrait of James Francis Edward Stuart ('The Old Pretender') - the only son of James II - as an infant. It appears to be a free reworking of a print of the infant made by Bernard II Lens (1659-1725) (see Royal Collection RCIN 603478). The baby wears plumes of the Prince of Wales; a vase with roses and thistles placed to left of the cradle carries further legitimising symbolism. The legitimacy of the royal child is proclaimed in the German text below.

A smartly dressed lady sitting to right could either be the infant's mother, Mary of Modena (cf. Royal Collection cataloguing of the Lens print), or (it has been suggested to us), his governess, Lady Powis. A story was circulating at the time that the prince was illegitimate and had been smuggled in in a warming pan (see the probably Amsterdam-printed pamphlet Consultation de l’oracle par les puissances de la terre, pour savoir si le Prince des Galles Dieu-donné, est supposé ou legitime). To show the child with his mother, Mary of Modena, would be a way to counter this.

Details

Engraving with etching, 13.1 cms. x 17.4 cms. within plate-marks, further margin (not properly measurable due to mount); light spotting, very good, mounted and framed.

Bibliography

BM 1875,0814.717. NPG D34720.