Martin van Meytens, copy after - Portrait of James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766) - image-1

Lot 2105 Dα

Martin van Meytens, copy after - Portrait of James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766)

Auction 1197 - overview Cologne
21.05.2022, 11:00 - Old Masters
Estimate: 15.000 € - 20.000 €
Result: 27.500 € (incl. premium)

Martin van Meytens, copy after

Portrait of James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766)

Oil on canvas. 70.8 x 48 cm.

Following the birth of Prince Henry, in 1725, James Stuart, the Duke of York, and his second wife, Maria Clementina Sobieska (1702-1735), commissioned their effigies to Martin van Meytens the Younger. The portraits were thought as mutual presents, each to be hung in the other's apartment at the Palazzo Muti in Rome, where the Duke was in exile. The whereabouts of the originals areunknown, although the compositions are well known through later versions commissioned by James himself from 1727-8, when, having left Rome, he required copies to be sent to his entourage and supporters, to reassure them of the Jacobite cause´s stability. These were commissioned to different artists, such as the British E. Gill and Giovanni David among others.

The present portrait has been formerly attributed to the Italian Francesco Trevisani, who painted another portrait of the sitter in 1719; Professor Corp suggests that it should be ascribed to E. Gill, who executed at least twelve versions from the original, for the majority oval, which are qualitatively consistent with the present portrait.

We are grateful to professor Edward Corp for his kind assistance on the cataloguing.