Usually, royal portraits are pretty conservative and predictable. Well, they do contain lots of symbolism, but usually of the traditional kind: symbols of power, symbols of status, symbols of importance. Thus it is that since King Charles III’s coronation there has been a great controversy surrounding his new official portrait by Jonathan Yeo; which is most likely the first since the king was crowned.
Covering an area larger than life (7.5 feet by 5.5 feet), the painting depicts the king donning his Welsh Guards ceremonial garb with his hand on the hilt of a sword while smiling half-heartedly at viewers and above his right shoulder is a butterfly fluttering around.His whole body is drowned in a sea of red so that only his face seems to be floating.
Although semiologically speaking it was apparently all about the butterfly – as Yeo told BBC, designed to symbolise Prince Charles’ transformation from prince to ruler and demonstrate his long standing love for nature – what really gave this painting any further meaning beyond its originality turned out to be its primary color hence making “seeing red” quite literal. It seemed like it invited interpretation.“This actually looks like he’s bathing in blood,” commented someone else.“It reminds me of colonial bloodshed,” one other commenter said.There were even comparisons to Satan.Etc. There was also mention of Tampax-gate; this referred to an infamous remark made by Charles during his phone hacking scandal when he was divorcing Princess Diana.
The initial reaction from Yeo’s interview on BBC that this picture got from the King made him “initially mildly surprised by the strong colour”. A more modern-day approach reminiscent of Charles’ aspiration for modern kingship sought after by Justin Mortimer in creating a royal portrait. And yet, given everything that has happened ever since he ascended on throne this choice seems especially ominous.Finally think about things such as their ongoing rift with Prince Harry the second-born son, the publication of his memoir with its allegations of royal racism and demands for the monarchy to be abolished; Charles’ cancer diagnosis; as well as the fuss regarding Catherine Princess of Wales who was suffering from an undisclosed cancer when people started speculating that she had gone mad.
It is almost impossible to believe that Yeo did not think about some of this portrait’s responses. The last time a royal illustrator attempted to paint a more abstract and contemporary version of their subject – Queen Elizabeth II’s 1998 portrait by Justin Mortimer which showed her in front of a neon yellow field on most part though cut through her neck with yellow – there was a similar negative feedback.There were claims by the Daily Mail that the artist had decapitated Queen Elizabeth. NYT
