Portrait of Queen Mary Ii, After William Wissing.

Oil on canvas in a carved and giltwood frame.

This is a charming portrait, an early 19th century copy, in miniature, of the very large original by William Wissing in the Royal Collection.

Mary is depicted, prior to her coronation, as the Princess of Orange; the portrait is within a very fine quality carved frame … a work of art in its own right.

MARY II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, King William III & II, from 1689 until her death. Popular histories usually refer to their joint reign as that of William and Mary. Mary, born at St James's Palace in London on 30 April 1662, was the eldest daughter of the Duke of York (the future King James II & VII), and his first wife, Anne Hyde. Mary's uncle was King Charles II, who ruled the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland; her maternal grandfather, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, served for a lengthy period as Charles's chief advisor. She was baptised into the Anglican faith in the Chapel Royal at St James's, and was named after her ancestor, Mary, Queen of Scots. Her godparents included her father's cousin, Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Although her mother bore eight children, all except Mary and her younger sister Anne died very young, and King Charles II had no legitimate children. Consequently, for most of her childhood, Mary was second in line to the throne after her father.

She married her Protestant first cousin, William of Orange, in 1677. Charles died in 1685 and James took the throne, making Mary heir presumptive. James's attempts at rule by decree and the birth of his son, James Francis Edward Stuart, led to his deposition in the Glorious Revolution and the adoption of the English Bill of Rights.

William and Mary became king and queen regnant. Though William relied heavily on Mary, she wielded less power than William and, when he was in England, ceded most of her authority to him. She did, however, act alone when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad, proving herself to be a powerful, firm, and effective ruler. Mary's death left William as sole ruler until his own death in 1702, when he was succeeded by Mary's sister, Anne.

WILLIAM WISSING (1656 - 1687) After Lely's death in 1680, Wissing emerged as his most important pupil. Wissing’s royal sitters include Charles II of England, Queen Catharine of Braganza, Prince George of Denmark, Queen Mary II and the Duke of Monmouth.

SIZE: 27.25 x 23.75 x 2.75 inches including the frame.

PROVENANCE: Collection of Patrick Donald (1930-2019)