We’ve selected a few key objects from our collection for you to explore. These are the highlights of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Sir Anthony van Dyck
Princess Elizabeth, 1635 - 1650 and Princess Anne, 1637 - 1640. Daughters of Charles I1637This unique and delightful oil-study for Van Dyck's famous painting, 'The Five Eldest Children of Charles I', shows two-year-old Elizabeth, supporting the baby Anne. Van Dyck captures the chubby roundness and rosy colouring of the young princesses' faces offset by their linen caps and the elder sister's pearl necklace. The finished group portrait hung above the king's breakfast table at Whitehall and is still in the Royal Collection. Sadly both girls died young of tuberculosis: Anne was only three and Elizabeth fifteen. Her mother was convinced that Elizabeth had really died of a broken heart after her father's execution.
Glossary [1] Show
Oil sketch
A rough drawing in oil paint, possibly the preliminary version of a painting. In the in the 18th and 19th centuries it is particularly associated with landscape sketches which were executed quickly outdoors and not intended for public display.
- Accession no. PG 3010
- Medium Oil on canvas
- Size 29.80 x 41.80 cm (framed 53.30 x 60.30 x 8.90 cm)
- Credit Purchased with the aid of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Scottish Office and The Art Fund 1996
Sir Anthony van Dyck (Flemish / English, 1599 - 1641)
Van Dyck is perhaps most famous for the grand and elegant portraits he painted of the British aristocracy when he was court painter to King Charles I. He trained in Antwerp, and worked in Rubens’s studio as an assistant. His outstanding talents were recognised and encouraged by Rubens, who described him as his ‘best pupil’. Van Dyck developed his sumptuous portrait style during time spent in Italy, but also painted impressive religious, allegorical and mythical works. After returning to Antwerp for several years, Van Dyck moved to London in 1632, having accepted the King’s invitation to work for him, and remained there for the rest of his short but influential career.
Glossary [2] Show
Allegory
Where the ‘story’ of a work has a deeper underlying meaning – often used for the representation of grand, abstract ideas.
Mythological
Refers to figures and events from myths which are the ancient stories that usually explain the origins of historical or natural phenomena.