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Detail from showing paintings hanging on the wall of Buckingham House
Royal Portraiture

The Royal Collection holds royal portraits from visual works to decorative arts

JOHN MICHAEL RYSBRACK (1693-1770)

Edward, Prince of Wales, the Black Prince (1330-1376)

circa 1737

RCIN 37067

Portraits of historic figures can capture contemporary interests and attitudes. In 1735, Queen Caroline (r.1727–37) commissioned the sculptor John Michael Rysbrack (1693–1770) to create a series of busts of figures from royal history, of ‘all Kings of England from William the Conqueror’. Rysbrack created eleven terracotta busts which were privately displayed in the Queen's Library at St James’s Palace; these reflect her personal interest in history and art.

Of the original eleven busts, only three portraits survive intact, including this depiction of Edward, Prince of Wales more commonly known as the Black Prince. By placing Rysbrack's historic portraits alongside busts of members of the Hanoverian dynasty, Queen Caroline used portraiture to establish direct links between the past and present.


    The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.