Portrait of King Charles II/Jonathan Yeo Studio
The first official portrait of King Charles III after his coronation is an 8-foot tall oil painting. It depicts the monarch in the uniform of the Welsh Guards with a sword and a bowtie.
British artist Jonathan Yeo created the first official portrait of King Charles III after his coronation in May 2023. This is reported by the BBC.
Oil on canvas, depicting the King in the uniform of the Welsh Guards, with a sword in hand and a butterfly on his shoulder. The size of the canvas is 2.3 meters by 1.65 meters.
Yeo decided to use some of the traditions of royal portraiture – the military equipment, the sword – but aimed to achieve something more modern, in particular with deep color and with a butterfly, the publication adds.
Yeo noted that in the history of art, the butterfly symbolizes metamorphosis and rebirth, and the butterfly refers to the king's long-standing interest in the environment.
Noted , that the artist began painting the portrait of Charles III in June 2021, when he was still Prince of Wales. In total, the monarch posed for the artist four times, each of these meetings lasted about an hour.
The artist said of the experience of painting The King:
“When I started this project, His Majesty The King was still His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, and much like the butterfly I've painted hovering over his shoulder, this portrait has evolved as the subject's role in… pic.twitter.com/U289q8AlMh
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 14, 2024
Jonathan Yeo painted portraits of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, film producer David Attenborough and Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai. Also in 2014, Yeo made a portrait of the current Queen Consort Camilla.