A beautiful portrait of Princess Mary (1631 - 1660), the eldest daughter of Charles I, by Anthony van Dyck, has been saved for the nation and will return to the palace where it appears to have hung in the last days of the reign of the sitter's ill-fated father. The portrait of Mary, Princess Royal, later Princess of Orange and mother of William III, has been acquired by the nation through the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme and allocated to Historic Royal Palaces and will go on display at Hampton Court Palace from Thursday 12 February 2009.
The Acceptance in Lieu scheme, administered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), on behalf of the government, enables items deemed to be of historical or artistic importance to be given in place of inheritance tax.
This painting, dated to around 1637, shows Princess Mary at the age of five or six, wearing a rich silver-laced gown and pearl headdress, standing before a classical column and ornate gold damask curtain.
The portrait of Mary is thought to have hung at Hampton Court whilst Charles I was under house arrest at the palace during the English Civil War. In August 1647, the King was captured and confined to the palace but accommodated in relative comfort. He was allowed his own servants, the palace furnishings were improved for him, and paintings were brought down from Whitehall for his pleasure. On the evening of 11th November 1647, however, the King tricked his jailers and escaped to a boat that was waiting to ferry him to supposed asylum on the Isle of Wight. He left behind a note to the palace’s commander, Colonel Edward Whalley, thanking him for his kindnesses and asking that this painting, "the Originall of My Eldest Daughter [which] hangs in this chamber over the board next the Chimney which you must send to my Lady Aubigny." The painting went with Lady Aubigny, an active Royalist supporter, when she fled to The Hague after the King’s execution in 1649. It is recorded in a Dutch inventory in 1654 and remained in various continental collections until it appeared on the London art market in 1967 when it was bought by Van Dyck expert Sir Oliver Millar, from whose estate it has now been accepted in lieu.
From 12 February 2009, this portrait will be displayed next to a copy of a Van Dyck portrait depicting Princess Mary’s father, Charles I, in King William III’s State Apartments at Hampton Court Palace.
