2/4 The Lost Portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie: A Culture Show Special

was a gentle look he'll in 1745 I suppose this would make perfect sense actually because if anybody was going to be given a picture of Bonnie Prince Charlie during the rebellion it would be your ancestor because we know Charles was interested in his own image and gave it out quite freely and a miniature would be quite a good thing I suppose to give out during a fast-paced rebellion however my my immediate instinct is that this is probably not an eighteenth-century miniature it doesn't feel quite like an eighteenth-century image the technique the application of the the pigments is 19th centure thing right I'm sorry to be in slight bearer of bad news and they's all right I think that's a good legend so let's just pretend this conversation never happened and you can it will put it all back and you can bring it out of parties and it'll be your Jacobite memento it's not worth getting a second opinion then do I'm slightly disappointed that Cameron of luck heals miniature doesn't date from the 18th century but I suppose the danger of supporting the Prince and the danger of possessing a portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie after the 1745 are prising is something that could work against me finding anything original today down the road of the West Highland Museum in Fort William I've arranged to meet professor huge cheap to find out a little more about how portraits of the prints were ingeniously hidden so professor this place is full of Jacobite treasures well it is remarkable it's a wonderful collection and this is one my dear say the tip of the iceberg so what we got here then well we've got a range of very fine portrait particularly at the head of the pile so to speak we've got this enameled portrait on copper of Bonnie Prince Charlie beautifully detailed and taken from a French portrait where a lot of this material was generated in the first place in other words on the continent of Europe and then this one down here is some as they can be him but it's really not the same level of quality is it not the same level of quality at all I suppose it's rather caricature alike isn't is rather cartoon-like but of course in 18th century terms instantly recognizable there are certain signals in there certain signs with the Garter star and the white cockade in his bonnet it must be Bonnie Prince Charlie it's always the Garter sash isn't it that blue that ultimate symbol of royal authority that's right and I see it says the kind of lid the lid of what is this a snuff box or something I think we can say certainly that it's been a snuff box it must have been a hidden portrait and perhaps the finesse of the portraiture didn't matter so much in this miniature form and the fact that it's hidden as long as it gave off that clear unambiguous signal so if I if I was offering you some snuff from my snuff box and I revealed my lid see Bonnie Prince Charlie then you would go AHA said Oh traveller Jacobite fellow traveler that was possibly if I was unlucky you would dog me into the Hanoverian security forces that's right these were very dangerous times both in England and Scotland and even in France association with Bonnie Prince Charlie was not necessarily politically safe and what is what we got here on this rather curious painted image on a a peddler aboard this is a wonderful item because of what it tells us of the time of association loyalty to Bonnie Prince Charlie having to be a secret matter how does it work the image is mysterious there's a blob of paint and it springs into focus when you've got the cylinder in the right position right okay so if I maneuver around over there is he's popping out of me I mean he looks quite here I can see his Gaza sash so that's the blue here and then there's a star which actually makes perfect sense I mean it's just a splatter paint on here but now in the mirror it's quite a nice star so the idea being that if you were having your Jacobite friends around and all admiring Charlie's picture and suddenly there was a knock on the door and you weren't quite sure who it was then you take it all away and then you're safe that's right the image if you like disappears and it's left with this ambiguous blob of paint and miniatures being small and easy to hide I suppose fitted into the same tradition of having secret images of your your pinup the prints about you well imagery was very very important part of the 17:45 right Leslie the power of portraiture in the 18th century was immense portraits were used as propaganda they provided a focus for political and religious hopes and beliefs and a royal portraiture image was especially key a face had to look out of that canvas showing all the qualities you would hope for in a leader and Manik this is why I'm so keen to find a portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie from 1745 when he was the leader of the Jacobite uprising his face and his image inspired unquestioning loyalty after landing in the northwest of Scotland Bonnie Prince Charlie swept through the highlands and marched to Perth there he took lodgings of the salutation in proclaimed his father King demanded 500 pounds from the city to go towards his cause and was joined by many leading members of the Jacobite Gentry the salutation in is still here it's said to be the oldest hotel in Scotland and it's recorded that the print stayed in room 20 I've arranged to meet historian and re-enactor Aaron Johnston the Battle of Preston pans Heritage Trust in the very room Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed in because Aaron has a modern portrait of the prince which he thinks fits the bill as a replacement image of Charles Edward Stuart Aaron thanks for bringing this picture to shoot me how can you tell me a bit about it well this portrait of Charles Atwood was commissioned by the Battle of Preston pans Heritage Trust back in 2010 because suddenly we found there was a hole in the market after somebody had proven that the Latour picture was indeed henry benedict so we needed to find a replacement for that iconic image which we previously been using to present Prince Charlie to the world okay so I'm a little bit responsible for this painting yes but at least we can guarantee that Henry Benedict didn't sit for this one why is it important then to have a portrait of the prince as he would have looked during the Jacobite rebellion well what we want to do is to show what Charles represented when he was here but the idea that we really wanted to get cross was was who Charles was it wasn't necessarily about size likeness it was about getting across that sense of confidence and energy and ambition I see I mean it certainly does look like an ambitious man but when you mention the likeness it strikes me that there's still a little bit of Prince Henry in this am i imagining things you're right there is that feeling of the of the old Latour still in there because we do want something that was very identifiable and for better for worse people still see that picture in their minds when really of Charles Edward okay I've seen I think this is quite a boldly painted image and it certainly shows a man of some optimism and courage and perhaps even a touch of arrogance but for me I don't think it's really going to do as a replacement image of Bonnie Prince Charlie while I was gone I think a good historical portrait needs to have that sense that it's done from life that is capturing that likeness to character the personality of someone sitting in front of the artist at the moment of creation I don't think this quite does it what is it about Prince Charles that you know we're still commissioning portraits of him when you're dressing very convincingly as him over 250 years after he was around what why is he so inspirational today I think what it comes down to is Charles's personality what we know from the accounts of the campaign is that people who could go into a room with no intention of supporting Prince Charlie and walk out of it committing not only themselves but their men as well if I was some humble so James come to this room to see if I should join your cause give me a bit of Bonnie Prince Charlie how would you convince me well just as I have with everybody else who's doing the cause so far all I would do is point out that Here I am having risked everything to come amongst you and give you the opportunity for you yourselves to rise up to overthrow a government that is unlawful that doesn't have a true claim to the throne and that has far more interest in its land holdings in Hanover than it does in Scotland and now you have the opportunity to take your own destiny in your own hands hmm very convincing I'm sold do you want me to kiss your hand or something well we can be involved okay thank you the prince stayed in Perth for six days but he had little time to sit for a portrait while he was here he held councils of war of the salutation him he attended a Protestant church services and John's Kirk his army grew in number and it's said that he didn't sleep while he was in residence here because he was too busy holding meetings with his commanders after leaving Perth Bonnie Prince Charlie was heading for Edinburgh the Scottish capital and that's where I think his portrait might have been painted in 1745 it's almost hard to believe that Charles was able to seize Edinburgh without any bloodshed at all he'd a process of the expecting some kind of battle or siege but when the gate here the nether gate was unexpectedly opened to allow the exit of a single carriage Cameron of Locke heel swooped in with his troops and overpowered the city guard just a few hours later there for Bonnie Prince Charlie was able to march into Edinburgh completely unopposed at the head of his army and he was greeted we're told by tens of thousands of cheering citizens he was now effectively the master of all Scotland James was proclaimed king and Charles Prince Regent an Edinburgh went mad for Charlie and his image the print setup caught at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh balls were held in his honor hand-painted fans were produced which were distributed to the ladies tending all the Holyrood parties and every fan showed an image of the prince Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed in Edinburgh for six weeks he held a council every day at Hollywood he would have had time to sit for a portrait I wonder could have lost portrait of the prince still reside in the palace I loved these portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his brother Henry but they weren't painted during the Jacobite rebellion and they weren't painted in Scotland portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie nur's brother Prince Henry which hang in the dining room at Holyrood were painted in Italy in 1738 by an artist named blond shape today there are no portraits of Bonnie Prince Charlie from 1745 in the Royal Collection what I am interested in is a little-known 18th century document this is a copy of a letter in the royal archive from Bonnie Prince Charlie 's valet John Stuart it's addressed to mr. Allan Ramsay painter it says sir your desire to come to the palace of holyroodhouse as soon as possible in order to take his Royal Highness picture so I expect you'll wait no further call I am so your most humble servant John Stuart Hollywood House 26th of October 1745 this proves that there was at the very least the intention to paint Bonnie Prince Charlie 's portrait here in Scotland the question is did Ramsay gain his letter and did he paint the picture but who was Adam Ramsay and why would he in particular be asked to paint the princes portrait in the 18th century Ramsay was considered to be one of the greatest portrait artists in Europe born and brought up in Edinburgh his father's remarkable octagonal abode known as the goose bay whose still stands on the Royal Mile now we know that Alan Ramsey was certainly in Edinburgh at the time Charles sent his letter because we have a record of what happened to Ramsay's house during the uprising because it overlooked Edinburgh Castle which was the one place that Charles never managed to control it was decided to use Ramsey's garden to take a few potshots of the castle now in the event the Jacobite guns were no match for the government guns and the skirmish didn't last very long but if Ramsay did paint the prints I don't think he'd have done it here in the middle of a barrage no matter where Ramsay painted if the brush was in his hand he would be guaranteed a brilliant portrait Ramsey painted lords and ladies men of government and intellectuals and everyone was painted with great expression and character in fact Ramsey revolutionized Scottish portraiture before Ramsey you could say the Scottish portraiture stuck in something of a rut because artists were quite limited much of the essential biographical information you want from a portrait didn't come from a good likeness a good characterization of the face but from the accessories in a picture the props the rich costume in the fancy background as a result some pictures like this feel a little bit stiff and frankly rather dull but when Ramsey comes along everything changes in evolutionary terms it's the

Channel: Art Documentaries

Views: 93,986

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Id: Eiz22FMnNvs

Length: 15min 0sec (900 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 25 2016