Footnotes

Provenance
Possibly commissioned by Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield (1584-1656)
Possibly thence by family descent at Bretby Park to the 7th Earl of Chesterfield, by whose executors offered
Sale, Christie's, London, 31 May 1918, lot 79 (370 guineas to F. Partridge as Van Dyck of Prince Rupert)
Sir John Frecheville Ramsden, 6th bt. (1877–1958)
His sale, Christie's, London, 27-30 May 1932, lot 125 (£231 to Lancaster as Van Dyck of Prince Rupert)
Subsequently acquired by the father of the present owner

Exhibited
Leeds, National Exhibition of Works of Art, 1868, no. 613 or 3072

Literature
O. Millar in S.J. Barnes et al, Van Dyck, New Haven and London, 2004, p.487 (a 'good copy')

Painted circa 1637, this magnificent product of van Dyck's studio depicts Prince Charles Louis (1618-1680), the eldest surviving son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart, who was the sister of Charles I and known as the 'Winter Queen'. He was born in Heidelberg on 1 January 1618, shortly before the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War, which was to bring ruin to his father and the Palatine dynasty.

Prince Charles Louis, together with his brothers, Rupert and Maurice, came to the aid of their uncle at the outbreak of the Civil Wars. So famously portrayed by Sir Anthony van Dyck the brothers bestowed a certain glamour on the English King's court which so romantically foreshadowed its tragic demise during the conflict. After settling in England the King did his utmost to prevent his nephew, who could lay claim to the crown should the main Stuart line be ousted, from becoming a focus of opposition. He ensured that the prince accompanied him wherever he went during the next year and a half, and kept him as a sort of 'Protestant mascot'. Charles Louis's strong anti-Catholicism during these years (he was to become more tolerant in later years) led him to distrust Charles I and his Catholic or crypto-Catholic entourage, Prince Charles Louis came to be somewhat mistrusted for his parliamentary sympathies and could not help noticing that the King was irritated by his presence in England and he soon travelled back to The Hague. He returned to England in 1644 when he took up residence in Whitehall, leading contemporaries to believe that he was manoeuvring to be enthroned in place of his uncle, despite the fact that his brothers, Rupert and Maurice fought for the King. In March 1647 the Prince tried to persuade Cromwell to send parts of the parliamentary army — possibly under Cromwell's own command — to Germany to fight for him and the Reformed religion. These plans were not realized, but the Treaty of Westphalia reinstated the Palatine dynasty in the Lower Palatinate and conferred a new, eighth electoral dignity on Charles Louis (the original Palatine title was retained by Bavaria) in October 1648. Charles Louis did not accept the Westphalian peace until 22 December. At this time he was still living in England. In spite of the tensions between himself and Charles I (the King refused to see him before his death), he seems to have been shocked by the King's execution and left England shortly after his uncle's death. Of his family he remained close to his sister, Sophia, the Electress of Hanover and mother of the future King George I of England.

Prince Charles Louis closely resembled his brother, Rupert, but can here be identified as he was the only one of the three brothers who was entitled to wear the Garter at this time and this full-length portrait would probably have been originally conceived as a pair with a portrait of Prince Rupert.

The present work is derived from a prime version by van Dyck which was sold at Sotheby's (3 December 1997, lot 87, £771,500 GBP) and is now in an American private collection. This work is one of only a small number of full-length versions, one of which was in the collection of the Prince of Hanover at Schloss Marienburg (sold Sotheby's, 5 October 2005, lot 115); while a version with changes to the costume is in the National Gallery, London. It has the further distinguished provenance of having been in the collection of the Earls of Chesterfield and is likely to have been commissioned by Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield who fought loyally in support of King Charles I during the Civil Wars. It remained in the Chesterfield collection until 1918.