Portrait of William, Duke of Gloucester (1689-1700)

Date1696-1700

Attributed to Edmund Lilly (d. 1716)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 60 x 40 1/2in. (152.4 x 102.9cm) and Framed: 69 3/4 x 50 x 3 1/2in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Wood and Mr. and Mrs. William H. Murdoch

Object number1974-133,A

DescriptionA full-length portrait of a young boy, standing, turned one quarter toward the viewer's left, his proper right hand apparently resting on his far hip, his proper left hand supporting the sheathed blade of his sword, which extends back and to the side at nearly a right angle to the boy's body. He wears the insignia of the Order of the Garter; a white lace neckcloth loosely knotted at the throat; long, flowing robes (ostensibly velvet lined with satin). He stands with his feet turned at right angles to one another, the toe of the rear foot just behind the heel of the front foot. His chin-length, curly brown hair appears to have been plucked, leaving a broad, high expanse of forehead. Columns are shown at left in the picture, and a large, formal building is visible through an open doorway to the right.
The 5-inch frame is a replacement that probably dates from the second half of the 19th century. It consists of a molded, wood pulp papier mache facing nailed to a thin, flat wooden backframe with flat wood liners. The frame may have been specifically made for the picture; it mimics a 17th-century cushion-style frame with meandering berry-laden vines and punched decoration finished in metal (or gold) leaf accented with red paint (or bole).
Label TextWilliam was the only child of Princess (later Queen) Anne to survive infancy. Declared Duke of Gloucester at birth by his uncle, King William III, he became a Knight of the Garter at the age of seven. William was second in line to the British throne, but was frail from birth and died shortly after his 11th birthday.

Artist Edmund Lilly portrayed William with the insignia for the Knights of the Garter, including the ceremonial garter below the boy’s left knee.

What’s the Connection?
William’s short life overlapped the 1699 establishment of Virginia’s new capital, Williamsburg. The colony’s legislature named the town’s principal thoroughfare Duke of Gloucester Street in honor of the young prince.

ProvenanceIn 1958, the picture was owned by J. Pearson, Satis House, Datchet, England [see Millar, Tudor, Stuart, and Early Georgian Pictures . . . . p. 151]. On 23 October 1968, it sold as lot 24 at Sotheby's, New Bond Street, where it was advertised as the property of The Rt. Hon. the Lady Vansittart, Denham Place, England. In 1969, it was owned (per Oliver Millar, letter of 11 February 1974) by John Parker; by 1974, it was owned by Robin Little, Orpington, Kent, England, from whom it was acquired by CWF.