There are 35 paintings by 20 different artists hanging on the walls of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. This painting of James V of Scotland (1512-42) is one of the two three-quarter-length portraits of early British monarchs decorating the Dining Room, hung on either side of the fireplace.

Welsh portraitist William Llewellyn had already produced two paintings of Queen Mary (402024 and 404471) when he was commissioned to contribute to the Dolls’ House project. Painting a posthumous portrait of James V was an entirely different undertaking, however. He may have looked for inspiration to a 16th-century portrait of the monarch, such as 402712, or a later engraving such as 618156, which would have been readily accessible. In the mid-19th century, a full-length portrait of James V was included in a series of British monarchs painted by Richard Burchett for the Parliamentary art collection.

 

The Dolls’ House portrait bears a resemblance to these works, particularly in the pose and dress of the subject: although their colours differ, the fur-lined sleeveless cloak, bejewelled cap and balloon sleeves (as well as the collar of the Order of the Thistle) are all included. Although this is to some extent a modern reimagining of James V’s likeness – the hand-in-pocket gesture seems particularly anachronistic – the neutral background decorated with the Royal Arms of Scotland and ‘IRS’ [Iacobus Rex Scotorum] hark back to an earlier form of portraiture. Indeed, they seem to have been lifted directly from 402712.