Description
watercolour
Dimensions
8cm x 6.5cm (3.25in x 2.5in)
Footnote
Note: This miniature is a copy after Robert Strange's engraving Prince Charles Edward Stuart c.1749. Strange (Scottish 1721-1792) is an artist synonymous with Jacobite portraiture and this image a very familiar view of the Prince, as Strange had captured his likeness in both a mezzotint and an engraving. Both of these works were very widely distributed following the rebellion of 1745, and became the most utilised basis for portrait copies right up until 1760. At first the copies were drawn directly from the originals with only minor additions or subtractions, but later copies are clearly copies of copies and more visually distant from the original. In a large number of the copies, as here, a bonnet is added and the plain coat of Strange's original outfit is transformed into a tartan coat, a type of cloth that had quickly become synonymous with Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite cause.