English: Charles, Prince of Wales, 1616, Sir Balthazar Gerbier V&A Museum no. 621-1882

Techniques - Watercolour, shaded with graphite

Place - London, England

Dimensions - Height 14.7 cm (including frame and hanging loop), Width 11.4 cm (including frame), Depth 1.6 cm (including frame)

Object Type - Strictly speaking, this is a drawing rather than a miniature, which is a watercolour art. But Balthazar Gerbier, an amateur artist, was also a painter of miniatures and the drawing incorporates some aspects of miniature painting, being on vellum (a fine parchment) and using touches of watercolour.

People - Gerbier was born in The Netherlands but his early education and training are obscure. He must have been schooled in the accomplishments necessary for courtiers, particularly a knowledge of 'war-like machines'. This recommended him to Prince William of Orange, whose service he entered in 1615. In 1616 he was sent to England to work for the Dutch ambassador, but soon after transferred his service to George Villiers, the Earl, and subsequently Duke, of Buckingham. He became the Duke's domestic architect and adviser on matters of art. In 1628, after Buckingham's assassination, Gerbier transferred formally to the service of Charles I.

Historical Associations -

This picture was drawn about 1616, when Gerbier had just arrived in England and Charles was formally invested as Prince of Wales. The Latin inscription translates as 'Most illustrious and powerful Prince of Great Britain and Ireland, Prince Charles'. Thus it celebrates the Prince's new standing, an appropriate subject for an ambitious courtier in the making.