Portrait of Prince Rupert 17th Century; Attributed to Remigius Van Leemput.

Oil on panel in a good 18th century carved and giltwood frame.It shows Rupert at about the age of 14 when he first became a soldier. After a pattern favoured by van Honthorst who painted Rupert, at different ages, several times.

An early owner's seal to the verso.

This type and size of portrait were, by the reign of George III attributed to Theodore Russell (1624-88), nephew of Cornelius Johnson, but on stylistic grounds and format they are now attributed to Remigius van Leemput, believed to have been at one time an assistant in Van Dyck's studio.

Difficult to date precisely, most of these reduced copies were produced around the middle of the 17th century, particularly during the time of the English Civil War and the King's execution in 1649. They were much in demand as 'cabinet' pictures, adorning the private walls of Royalist supporters.

Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Cumberland, Earl of Holderness, commonly called PRINCE RUPERT OF THE RHINE, KG, PC, FRS ( 1619 – 1682), was a noted German soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century. Rupert was a younger son of the German prince Frederick V, Elector Palatine and his wife Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of James I of England. Thus Rupert was the nephew of King Charles I of England, who made him Duke of Cumberland and Earl of Holderness, and the first cousin of King Charles II of England. His sister Electress Sophia was the mother of George I of Great Britain.

Prince Rupert had a varied career. He was a soldier from a young age, fighting against Spain in the Netherlands during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), and against the Holy Roman Emperor in Germany during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48). Aged 23, he was appointed commander of the Royalist cavalry during the English Civil War (1642–46), becoming the archetypal Cavalier of the war and ultimately the senior Royalist general. He surrendered after the fall of Bristol and was banished from England. He served under Louis XIV of France against Spain, and then as a Royalist privateer in the Caribbean. Following the Restoration, Rupert returned to England, becoming a senior British naval commander during the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch wars, engaging in scientific invention, art, and serving as the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. Rupert died in England in 1682, aged 62.

Rupert is considered to have been a quick-thinking and energetic cavalry general, but ultimately undermined by his youthful impatience in dealing with his peers during the Civil War. In the Interregnum, Rupert continued the conflict against Parliament by sea from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, showing considerable persistence in the face of adversity. As the head of the Royal Navy in his later years, he showed greater maturity and made impressive and long-lasting contributions to the Royal Navy's doctrine and development. As a colonial governor, Rupert shaped the political geography of modern Canada—Rupert's Land was named in his honour. Rupert's varied and numerous scientific and administrative interests combined with his considerable artistic skills made him one of the more colourful individuals of the Restoration period.

REMIGIUS VAN LEEMPUT,(1609?–1675), painter, born at Antwerp about 1609, came to England in Charles I's reign, and among other works for that king he made a small copy in oils of the famous painting by Holbein at Whitehall of Henry VII, Henry VIII, and their queens, which was afterwards destroyed by fire.

SIZE: 20.25 x17.50 inches inc. frame.

PROVENANCE: Sussex Private Collection.