My Ear-Trumpet Has Been Struck By Lightning

thestuartkings:

The Standard Bearer, 1658Rupert von der Pfalz (Bohemian, 1619–1682) after Pietro dell’Vecchia (Italian, 1602/3–1678)Mezzotint
Prince Rupert of the Rhine (son of the exiled Frederick V of Bohemia) was one of the earliest practitioners of mezzotint, and a vital contributor to its development. Rupert met Ludwig von Siegen (the technique’s inventor) in 1654, but did not attempt his own mezzotints until 1657. He made this impressive print the following year. He began by roughening his plate with a serrated-edged hatcher (a prototype of the modern mezzotint “rocker”) to make the parallel shading lines at the upper left of the sheet, and the toothed wheel of a roulette (apparently attached to a pivoted pole) to form the dotlike texture of the man’s skin. Next, he sliced away the metal burr with a sharp-edged scraper, and polished it with a smooth-tipped burnisher to retrieve the highlights of the white paper. Finally, he added etched lines to form the feather in the youth’s cap, and the edges of his slashed-silk sleeves. Interestingly, in the original painting (attributed to Giorgione in the seventeenth century), the sleeves are made of chain mail.

The Standard Bearer, 1658
Rupert von der Pfalz (Bohemian, 1619–1682) after Pietro dell’Vecchia (Italian, 1602/3–1678)
Mezzotint

Prince Rupert of the Rhine (son of the exiled Frederick V of Bohemia) was one of the earliest practitioners of mezzotint, and a vital contributor to its development. Rupert met Ludwig von Siegen (the technique’s inventor) in 1654, but did not attempt his own mezzotints until 1657. He made this impressive print the following year. He began by roughening his plate with a serrated-edged hatcher (a prototype of the modern mezzotint “rocker”) to make the parallel shading lines at the upper left of the sheet, and the toothed wheel of a roulette (apparently attached to a pivoted pole) to form the dotlike texture of the man’s skin. Next, he sliced away the metal burr with a sharp-edged scraper, and polished it with a smooth-tipped burnisher to retrieve the highlights of the white paper. Finally, he added etched lines to form the feather in the youth’s cap, and the edges of his slashed-silk sleeves. Interestingly, in the original painting (attributed to Giorgione in the seventeenth century), the sleeves are made of chain mail.

thestuartkings:

Frontispiece to Thomas Sprat’s ‘History of the Royal Society of London’ 1667

Showing the crowning of King Charles II. Sir Francis Bacon is shown on the right; Prince Rupert, the president of the Society, is on the left.

thestuartkings:

Windsor Castle, birds eye view 17th Century

By Wenceslas Hollar

In 1668, the King Charles II appointed Prince Rupert to be the Constable of Windsor Castle. Rupert was already one of the Knights of the Garter, who had their headquarters at the castle, and was a close companion of the King, who would wish to be suitably entertained at the castle. Rupert immediately began to reorder the castle’s defences, sorting out the garrison’s accommodation, repairing the Devil’s Tower, reconstructing the tennis court and improving the castle’s hunting estate. Rupert acquired his own apartments in the castle, which were recorded as being “very singular” with some decorated with an “extraordinary” number of “pikes, muskets, pistols, bandoliers, holsters, drums, back, breast, and head pieces”, and his inner chambers “hung with tapisserie, curious and effeminate pictures”. King Charles II and Rupert spent much time together over the years hunting and playing tennis together at Windsor, and Rupert was also a close companion of James, the Duke of York. Rupert was considered by Pepys to be the fourth best tennis player in England.