A colossal portrait long thought to be of France’s Grand Dauphin that hung for a century in a corridor of the central bank in Paris has been revealed to be British, reports The Guardian.
The true identity of the sitter, with elaborate regalia and pearl-mounted sword, is not the son of Louis XIV but a lord mayor of London from the late 17th century.
The three-metre tall painting has gone on public display for the first time at Tate Britain, part of an exhibition telling the story of the British baroque period, described by curators as one of the most neglected and overlooked eras of UK art history.
Tabitha Barber, the curator of British art 1550-1750 at Tate Britain, said the painting was purchased by the Banque de France in the 1920s because of its supposed French royal links; it was only recently that a curator at the bank began researching the painting, which was tucked away in a quiet corridor, and discovered the truth.
Barber said there were a number of clues that clearly pointed to it being a London lord mayor: the pearl sword still used today; a background that includes Temple Bar and the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral in London; and the coats of arms on the horse’s ornate trappings.
The painting, by John Closterman, joins a number of new discoveries in the exhibition.