Portraits of historic figures can capture contemporary interests and attitudes. In 1735, Queen Caroline (r.1727–37) commissioned the sculptor John Michael Rysbrack (1693–1770) to create a series of busts of figures from royal history, of ‘all Kings of England from William the Conqueror’. Rysbrack created eleven terracotta busts which were privately displayed in the Queen's Library at St James’s Palace; these reflect her personal interest in history and art.

Of the original eleven busts, only three portraits survive intact, including this depiction of Edward, Prince of Wales more commonly known as the Black Prince. By placing Rysbrack's historic portraits alongside busts of members of the Hanoverian dynasty, Queen Caroline used portraiture to establish direct links between the past and present.