The Royal Portrait

Hardback, 253 x 210 mm, 180 colour illustrations
ISBN 978 1 905686 13 1

This book examines the role portraiture has played in promoting the public and private face of monarchs from Richard II to Queen Elizabeth II. Bringing together works by artists from Holbein to Freud, it investigates the role the royal portrait has played in fashion and politics across 600 years of official and unofficial image-making.

It is the first book to explore the subject from within the Royal Collection, and uses the latest art-historical research from a number of fields to present an intriguing reassessment of some of the best known faces in history.

In her fascinating and highly readable text, Jennifer Scott uses specific works, discussed in detail, as a way to explore the parallels between historic and present-day image-making, and reveals a type of iconography far more ground-breaking than its traditions would suggest.

Jennifer Scott is Director of Dulwich Picture Gallery. She was previously Director at the Holburne Museum, Bath and Curator of Paintings at Royal Collection Trust (2004–2014).