Prince Charles Louis with His Tutor, as Alexander Instructed by Aristotle
by LIEVENS, Jan, Oil on canvas, 104 x 97 cm
This painting is a ‘portrait histori�’ with contemporary sitters in the role of biblical or historical figures. The young man in his rich dress is most probably the palatine Prince Charles Louis (1617-1680), the eldest surviving son of the Winter King and Winter Queen, whereas the older man is his tutor Wolrad von Plessen (1560-1632), and they are represented as Alexander the Great and Aristotle.
The portrait histori� was rather popular at the Palatine court in exile. They are very often just likenesses of contemporary people dressed to represent biblical or historical persons, but Lievens succeeded in representing the young prince and his tutor as actors who are playing the roles of Alexander and Aristotle in perfection.