#another interesting detail bout monmouth is that he ran away once his army were defeated at sedgemoor

[not-xpr-art]

Digital portrait of James Scott, Duke of Monmouth

(05/2023)

Based on a portrait of him from about 1683, with my own spin on it!

Probably most people aren't familiar with the Duke of Monmouth, but living a few miles away from where the infamous battle of Sedgemoor (the last battle fought on English soil btw!) took place means I've known about him for basically my whole life! (there's also a local legend that Queen Victoria pulled the blinds of her carriage down when she was travelling through the area because of how the Somerset people had supported the Duke lol) He was an illegitimate son of Charles II and attempted to overthrow his uncle (James II) by inciting a rebellion across the West Country but was unsuccessful and ended up being executed for treason...

But recently I discovered that there was a rumour that after he was beheaded, they realised they didn't have an official portrait of him, so they stitched his head back on his body and had him 'sit' for a portrait lol

Have to say that this is totally untrue, of course lol (there's several portraits done of him prior to his death), but it's such a bizarre and gruesome detail I couldn't resist including a hint of it in my painting here!