Lot 16
  • 16

Willem Wissing 1656-1687

bidding is closed

Description

  • Willem Wissing
  • Portrait of Queen Mary of Modena, wife of James II
  • inscribed l.r.:MARY QUEEN OF / ENGLAND WIFE TO / KING JAMES THE SECOND
  • oil on canvas, in a carved wood frame
Three-quarter length, seated, wearing brown robes and a blue cloak, accompanied by a dog, here crown beside

Provenance

Earls of Darnley, Cobham Hall, sold Christie's, 1st May 1925, lot 92, bt. Arthurton for 300 gns;
Anon. sale, Christie's, 17th April 1953, lot 133, bt. Kayser for 40 gns;
Hon. Clive Pearson, Parham Park and thence by descent until sold, Sotheby's, 15th June 2000, lot 9, where acquired by the present owner for £54,000

Exhibited

New Gallery, The Monarchs of Great Britain, 1902

Literature

David Piper, Catalogue of Seventeenth Century Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery, 1963, p.223

Catalogue Note

This fine portrait dates from 1685, the year of the Queen's accession. In the same year Wissing painted her full length in coronation robes with orb and sceptre (versions at Petworth and Drumlanrig). Wissing first came to England in 1676, becoming Lely's finest pupil and inheriting much of his practice. He painted Charles II late in life (Royal Collection). James II also sent the artist to Holland in 1685 to paint the Prince of Orange (later William II) and Princess Mary, and Wissing took with him his portrait of Princess Anne when Princess of Denmark as a present for his sister. A portrait of Mary Modena by Wissing was once recorded in James II's collection but is now untraced.