Hoadley, Peter - Umkreis Circumference. Miniature... Lot 6462

Hoadley, Peter - Umkreis Circumference. Miniature portrait of the British Queen Mary II Stuart with pearl necklace, in a blue dress with white lace trim; against a background with a cloudy sky and British royal crown in front of black drapery. Watercolor and gum arabic on vellum. 1.8 x 1.5 cm (oval). In a silver-plated metal clasp on a bracelet with five strands of white glass beads. Mary II Stuart, English Mary II (1662 - 1694), Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, was the elder daughter of the later King James II of England. She was nevertheless brought up as a Protestant and was forced to marry her cousin William III of Orange, Governor of the United Netherlands, in 1677. She stood by her husband's side when he was overthrown due to his pro-Catholic policies and ascended the British throne with him in 1689 during the Glorious Revolution. She died of smallpox at the age of just 32. Even during her lifetime, she was considered extremely devoutly Anglican and wanted to serve as a role model for her subjects. In 1692, she ordered all British magistrates to ruthlessly enforce the laws against dissolute and immoral behavior - apparently so unsuccessfully that her supporters claimed that her early death was due to the sinful activities of the British nation.