For my uncle is King of Denmark, and those that would make mows at him while my father lived give twenty, forty, fifty, a hundred ducats a piece for his picture in little.

erainbowd

I am curious about the economics of king’s portraits. Clearly, they can be expensive. And are likely not mass produced. It seems unlikely that etchings would be the prime portraiture so these are likely paintings, painted by painters.

Do they churn out multiple copies of the same painting? Or paint one and have their apprentices copy them? Or just paint portrait after portrait in various styles? And in miniatures?!

And why would you shell out a hundred ducats for a painting of a guy you used to make mows at? Is it expected? Is it so that if someone comes over and they see it, they can report back to the king that “Lord SO and SO has a lovely portrait of you in his dining room? You really must go and see it!”?

I understand that politics and economics had a great deal to do with currying favor. It’s just hard to see how getting a painting of a king would do that.

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