Great Expectations - Aristocratic Children
in European Portraiture

This collection of 40 paintings from the Jakober Foundation collection (in Mallorca, Spain) features Old Master portraits of European royal and aristocratic children, including Louis XIII of France, Louis XV of France, Charles I of England, and Charles II of Spain. These portraits of children and adolescents open a window onto a fascinating world that has long passed. In societies governed by dynastic descent, children played a surprisingly important role as the portraits in this exhibition demonstrate. A boy might be thrust upon his country's throne under the tutelage of a regent; a little girl could be betrothed to forge a foreign alliance. Political necessity as much as the natural interest to preserve their likenesses, accounts for many of the sumptuous portraits of royal and aristocratic children that have survived from the 16th through the 19th centuries.

Richly detailed and beautifully executed, the portraits bring to life:

  • The Sun King Louis XIV of France, whose seventy-two year reign remains the longest of any major European monarch.
  • Czar Paul I of Russia, the only legitimate son of Catherine the Great, who was succeeded by his son Alexander I after his late night assassination in his bedroom in the newly built St. Michael's Castle.
  • Edward VI who ascended the throne at the age of nine following the death of his infamous father Henry VIII. Few portraits exist of the young monarch, largely due to his untimely death of tuberculosis at the age of 16.

These portraits of children and adolescents open a window onto a fascinating world that has long passed. Infants, tightly swaddled like mummies, lie in ornate cradles. Toddlers, dressed as miniature adults, wear plumed hats and brocade dresses trimmed in fine lace. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate the sexes, as boys wear skirts until the age of seven. Many children are burdened with rich and heavy jewelry, including the amulets that were believed to protect them from harm. While many of these children are burdened with the trappings of their illustrious families and histories, some are accompanied by their favorite pet, a feature that brings warmth and familiarity to these special children.

This exhibition was organized by the Trust for Museum Exhibitions.


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