Oil on panel, in a painted cartouche, 57.8cm by 44.5cm.
The sitter is thought to be Elizabeth Stuart (1596-1662), the daughter of James I and Anne of Denmark and the wife of Frederick V, the Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia (1596-1632).
His reign in Bohemia lasted for just one winter, and thus Elizabeth is often referred to as the ‘Winter Queen.’
When Queen Anne, the last monarch of the Stuart dynasty died in 1714, the heiress presumptive was their youngest daughter Sophia (1630-1714); a Protestant married to the Protestant Elector of Hanover.
Although there were many Roman Catholics with superior claims to the throne, the Act of Settlement of 1701 had precluded them from inheriting and as Sophia died shortly before Anne, her son George of Hanover became George 1 of England.
