Favourites: art and power 1600-1800

Small exhibition of just three pictures at the National Portrait Gallery looking at what a court favourite was by focusing on three from the 17th and 18th centuries.

It was a nice touch to pick paintings which showed the favourite full length in their robes of the Order of the Garter as reward for the loyalty and support was often to exclusive groups such as the Order of the Garter. It was interesting to see that although the trappings of the Order are archaic that somehow they did change with fashion.

The three men chosen included Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds who was chief minister to Charles II but was imprisoned in 1679 for negotiating a pro-French treaty even when taking an anti-French stance on Parliament. There was also George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, favourite to James I and later his son Charles who after various military failures was killed by a soldier.  Finally John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute who had been responsible for George III’s education, however there were rumours that he was the lover of George’s mother.

A nice exhibition and it might be fun to see it broadened out a bit more and learn about other court favourites. For example are there any recent ones? Possibly Earl Mountbatten could be described as one, they don’t have to go to the bad!

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