The artist who signs this painting is Jonathan Yeo and the model, who needs no introduction, is Carlos III. This is the first portrait of the King to be released to the public since his coronation in May 2023. The work took three years to complete and was unveiled this Tuesday by the sovereign himself at Buckingham Palace. It was commissioned by the professional association Drapers’ Company, which has more than 600 years of history.
Jonathan Yeo began working on this portrait in 2021, while Charles III was Prince of Wales. He posed for the artist four times throughout the process, at Highgrove, at his personal residence, at Clarence House, his residence in London, and the final was in November 2023, according to the Telegraph newspaper. The artist worked on the work in his London studio, using photographs of the King.
The artist says that it is a “privilege and a pleasure” to have received this commission. “When I started this project, Her Majesty was still His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and, like the butterfly I painted floating over her shoulder, this portrait has evolved as has the subject’s role in our public life,” explained the artist. mentioned on the royal family’s Instagram account. “I do my best to capture the life experiences and humanity etched in any person’s face and I hope I have achieved that with this portrait. To try and capture that in His Majesty the King, who occupies a unique place, was a tremendous professional challenge that I enjoyed and for which I am immensely grateful.”
???? The artist said about the experience of painting The King:
“When I started this project, His Majesty the King was still His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and, like the butterfly I painted floating over his shoulder, this portrait has evolved as the role of the subject in… pic.twitter.com/U289q8AlMh
– The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 14, 2024
The King unveiled the portrait this Tuesday at Buckingham Palace, as shown in a video published by the royal house on the social network. Queen Camilla, the artist and his family were also present. In the painting, Charles III wears his uniform of the Welsh Guards, of which he has been colonel since 1975.
[Já saiu o primeiro episódio de “Matar o Papa”, o novo podcast Plus do Observador que recua a 1982 para contar a história da tentativa de assassinato de João Paulo II em Fátima por um padre conservador espanhol. Ouça aqui.]
According to The Telegraph, the artist revealed that it was the King who suggested including a butterfly in the portrait during a conversation in which they talked about “how interesting it would be to have a narrative element that refers to his passion for Nature.” and the environment,” Yeo said. Charles III also thought that the butterfly “functioned as a counterpoint to the military steel of the sword” and also came to have an association with the King’s “metamorphosis” in his role during the creation of the portrait.
This portrait was commissioned by Drapers’ Company in 2020 to celebrate the then Prince of Wales’s 50th anniversary as a Fellow. It is one of the oldest professional associations in London, with origins dating back to the Middle Ages. This painting measures 2.59 meters high and 1.98 meters wide and is destined for Draper’s Hall in London.
Jonathan Yeo had already played other members of the royal family, specifically Camilla in 2014, when she was still Duchess of Cornwall, and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2008.
It is the first portrait of Charles III to be revealed since the monarch’s coronation on May 6, 2023. In March of that year, an oil portrait painted by Alastair Barford, a young scholarship artist with a background of the queen, was published. Isabel II. and that represented the King with an indigenous bracelet.
Source: Observadora
