The Prince Meets the same fate as the Minister Skating on Duddingston Lock

Scotland's National Portrait Stands Firm!

Of course it's Prince Charles Edward. It's Maurice-Quentin La Tour's famous portrait of the man, which cost the nation £220,000 in 1994. Just because it looks similar to another portrait that when cleaned was named Portrait of a Cardinal means nought. That was surely deliberately so dubbed two centuries and more ago to throw Hanoverian vandals off the trail of Prince Charles.

[It's only a week since we reported the suggestion that The Reverend Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch was not by Sir Henry Raeburn but by a French artist!]

How expert are we compared to the experts? Judge for yourself! Not too sure about the dimple in the chin though ...

Below, next to La Tour's Portrait of The Prince in armour is the portrait by Allan Ramsay of the Prince is military uniform held at Derby Museum.

click to enlarge all images


The press cutting from The Scotsman faithfully reports what The British Art Journal believes to be the correct attribution.