The Lost Prince: the Life & Death of Henry Stuart

Henry Stuart was the eldest son of King James VI/I, the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne. He showed great promise as a young man, and many people pinned great hope upon him, but at the age of 18 he died. And that should have been the end of it. But his position as heir to the throne was inherited by his young brother Charles, an altogether less promising young man. Charles went on to be a controversial king, whose reign ended in a civil war fought against Parliament, and in his own capture and execution. And so the death of young Henry can be seen as one of those "What if??" moments. What would have happened if Henry had lived? Would the monarchy and parliamentary democracy have evolved in the same way?

But from the point of view of an exhibition in what is after all an art gallery, Henry's death marks another great moment of change. There are some exquisite paintings here, paintings by established artists such as Nicholas Hilliard, Isaac Oliver and Robert Peake, working in a style that is still recognisably that of the era of Queen Elizabeth I, and of Henry's parents James VI/I & Anne of Denmark. Who knows whether Henry would have become a great patron of the arts, but his young brother Charles certainly did. Barely 8 years later, Van Dyck paid his first visit to England and the court of King James. He was to return after another decade to portray the glamorous but doomed court of King Charles I. The paintings that capture the life of Henry and the young Charles are so different to those that would depict the later life and court of Charles as king.

This is a great opportunity to immerse yourself in early Stuart art.

18th October 2012 - 13th January 2013