Images(2)

Portrait of Queen Mary

Date1675-1700

OriginEngland, London

MediumOil on panel

DimensionsFRAMED: 13 1/4" X 9 1/2"

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1933-478

DescriptionPortrait miniature of Mary II with head angled to her proper right and eyes looking to the viewer. She wears a blue dress, a necklace of pearls, teardrop pearl earrings, and an elaborate jewelled brooch.
Label TextMary was born in 1662 to James and Anne, the Duke and Duchess of York. In 1677, she married her cousin, William of Orange, and the couple returned to William's home of Holland following the wedding. In 1688, English elites called on William to oppose the rule of King James II, Mary's father, who pushed Catholic legislation in the Protestant nation. William successfully dethroned the King, and he and Mary ascended to the throne, establishing the first joint English monarchy as King William III and Queen Mary II.

During their reign, William and Mary accepted a Declaration of Rights that reaffirmed Parliament’s role and limited the power of the monarchy to protect from future abuses of sovereignty. In 1693, they granted a charter for the College of William and Mary, and William III became the namesake of Williamsburg upon its establishment in 1699.

This miniature is likely based on a portrait by Willem Wissing. James II sent Wissing to Holland to paint William and Mary, then the Prince and Princess of Orange, in 1685. The crown motif on the miniature's frame, however, likely indicates that this portrait was completed after Mary became the Queen of England in 1689.
ProvenanceDates unknown, Mr. Thomas Mott Shaw (Boston, MA); ca. 1933, given to Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; 1933-present, given to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.