A Portrait of a Young Boy, dressed in Black with a Red Sash wearing a Plumed Hat with a Sword and holding Gloves and a Staff - Rafael Valls

Medium

Oil on Canvas

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-150385

Traditionally identified as a portrait of the Prince of Wales, later King Charles II (1630-1685), this portrait undoubtedly comes from the mid-seventeenth century. Described as a picture by 'Mittins' (presumably Daniel Mijtens) in 1801 and later in the 20th century as by Gerrit van Honthorst, we can assume the artist was a Dutch emigre to England or perhaps a native painter who studied under one. The boy's costume is reminiscent of the extravagant outfits found in militia company paintings common in the Dutch Republic and in portraits of cavaliers from the English Civil War which helps to date the painting to the 1640s. Dressed as a dashing young soldier the boy holds a staff of office and wields a sword at his side. He wears a slashed black doublet with silk sleeves showing underneath, a short laced collar, and short buff boots with bows to match his gloves. The unusual flared black boothose with its gold filigree matches his breeches with their flamboyant ribbons. A painting of Charles II as a boy attributed to William Dobson at Kinloch Castle provides a useful comparison, both in fashion and pose. Here Charles II holds a similar plumed cavalier's hat with a bow much like our own sitter's hat, suggesting that the boy is dressed in the finest of Royalist fashion.