Honthorst was a Dutch painter born and trained in Utrecht. His early career was spent in Rome, where he attained great success as a follower of Caravaggio. In 1620 he returned to Utrecht and largely abandoned religious themes in favour of Arcadian and domestic subjects and portraits. During this period Honthorst received a number of commissions from the exiled Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia, sister of Charles I and through these became known to the English King. In 1628 he was invited to the English court and there painted a number of portraits of the Charles I and his Queen, as well as several leading courtiers.

Arcadian play-acting and fancy-dress was a popular form of entertainment amongst the nobility throughout Europe at this time. Milton’s masque ‘Comus’, for example, was first performed in 1634 by three children of the Earl of Bridgewater. In this group portrait, the four eldest children of the ‘Winter King' and Queen Elizabeth play the role of Arcadian hunters with their dogs, paying their respects to Diana, goddess of the chase. Princess Elizabeth plays Diana, while her brothers are, from left to right, Princes Rupert, Maurice and Charles Louis. This role-play enlivens the representation of the sitters and suggests that the boys are athletic and manly, while knowing how to treat ladies with gallantry and reverence.

This work was executed in The Hague, where the couple held court during their exile. It is likely that such imagery was influenced by the masques and allegorical paintings created for the court of Charles I in London, where Honthorst had been three years earlier (compare to RCIN 405746).

Inscribed: 'Honthorst. 1631'