Sir Anthony van Dyck

Princess Elizabeth, 1635 - 1650 and Princess Anne, 1637 - 1640. Daughters of Charles I

previous next

About this artwork

This unique and delightful oil-study for Van Dyck's famous painting, 'The Five Eldest Children of Charles I', shows two-year-old Elizabeth, supporting the baby Anne. Van Dyck captures the chubby roundness and rosy colouring of the young princesses' faces offset by their linen caps and the elder sister's pearl necklace. The finished group portrait hung above the king's breakfast table at Whitehall and is still in the Royal Collection. Sadly both girls died young of tuberculosis: Anne was only three and Elizabeth fifteen. Her mother was convinced that Elizabeth had really died of a broken heart after her father's execution.

Updated before 2020

Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? Tell us what you think.

Sir Anthony van Dyck

Sir Anthony van Dyck