Henry Benedict Stuart

Born in Rome in 1725, Henry Benedict Stuart was the younger brother of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Unlike his father (the Old Pretender) and his brother (the Young Pretender) he did not chase thrones and power but opted instead for an ecclesiastical career. He spent his adult life in Italy as a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was said to be abstemious, wealthy and was 82 years of age when he died in 1807.

Henry is shown here as a boy wearing an armoured breastplate over a white lace stock, a leather strap running over his shoulder with a glimpse of a royal blue cloak around his other shoulder. Painted in watercolour on card or vellum, the portrait resides in its original 14 caret gold frame.