Teenage portrait of the Young Pretender to be publicly exhibited for the first time
● Little-known painting spent centuries in Italy
A rediscovered portrait of a teenage Bonnie Prince Charlie is to go on public display in Scotland for the first time ever.
The National Museum of Scotland has secured a loan of a little-known painting Charles Edward Stuart sat for in Venice when he was just 16.
It is thought to have been disliked by his father because he felt the prince looked unusually mature and confident for his age. It is believed to have been given away to an aristocratic Italian family, who kept it for centuries, before selling it on more than 50 years ago.
Its whereabouts only emerged when it came up for sale early last year in New York and was spotted by a Warsaw-based art historian, Peter Pininski, who claims to be a direct descendant of the prince.
The portrait, which will go on display at the Edinburgh attraction for a month from tomorrow, is said to be an unusually accurate depiction of Charles as the artist was not commissioned or overseen by his father, James.
Created by the Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera, it is believed to be the only portrait of the prince before the 1745 Jacobite Uprising which was not painted in Rome.
Mr Pininski said: “It’s important to understand that this is the only pre-1745 portrait of Charles which his somewhat controlling father did not oversee. It was done completely free from his influence.
“It captured a moment where the immature, petulant, badly-behaved prince was away from the shadow of
his father, on a ten-week tour of Europe. He suddenly shone.
“For the first time, he is his own man, behaves wonderfully well, and impresses everyone with an incredible maturity he’d never shown before.
“In a certain sense, this painting marked the beginning of a heroic phase of his life.
“We know it was painted in the June 1737 during the ten days Charles spent in Venice. It is mentioned in his papers, but it was not known where the painting was before it came up for sale.
“The reason for that is that James VIII didn’t like it. You only have to look at the confidence and poise of Charles.
“I suspect that when his father saw the painting he saw all the qualities he didn’t have and there was something about him he couldn’t control.
“We must assume that he gave it to an aristocratic friend in Rome. It is very likely it was in the same family for centuries, until they sold it on around 50 years ago.”
The museum, which staged a major exhibition two years
ago on the rise and fall of the Jacobites, is putting the portrait on display alongside the prince’s silver canteen of travelling cutlery and shield from today until 27 May.
David Forsyth, principal curator in Scottish history at the museum, said: “There have been references to this painting, but it has really been in private hands in Rome since it was pretty much given away by James VIII. It has been hidden away from public view ever since it was painted and hasn’t event been out of Italy
until the auction in New York.
“I thought we had heard the last word on Bonnie Prince Charlie, but this was just incredible. He was sent on this tour around Europe when he was a coquettish, petulant and spoilt teenager to try to man him up and show him what was happening in the real world. He seemed to find his mature inner self during the tour and was very wellreceived. It was no surprise to see him captured like this.”
“There have been references to this painting, but it has really been in private hands in Rome since it was pretty much given away by James VIII”
DAVID FORSYTH