"Tomaso Lorenzo, Princess Angelica, and the Portrait of Crown Prince Bulbo," nineteenth illustration by W. M. Thackeray for "The Rose and The Ring" (1855)

Tomaso Lorenzo, Princess Angelica, and the Portrait of Crown Prince Bulbo

W. M. Thackeray

1855

Wood engraving, probably by William Linton

10.3 cm high by 6.8 cm wide (4 by 2 ⅝ inches), vignetted

Nineteenth illustration for Thackeray’s The Rose and The Ring, p. 324.

Thackeray now shows the recently arrived court-painter unveiling a portrait of his royal master in armour: youthful, heroic, accomplished, and matrimonially available after the church forbade his marrying his cousin. The implications for Angelica's match with Giglio are clear. Descriptive headlines: "O You Painter, How You Flatter! Sure He Must Be Laughing at Her!" (324-25).

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Passage Illustrated: A Serious Rival to Prince Giglio Introduced in Paint

One day, Lorenzo showed the Princess a portrait of a young man in armour, with fair hair and the loveliest blue eyes, and an expression at once melancholy and interesting.

‘Dear Signor Lorenzo, who is this?’ asked the Princess.

‘I never saw anyone so handsome,’ says Countess Gruffanuff (the old humbug).

‘That,’ said the painter, ‘that, Madam, is the portrait of my august young master, his Royal Highness Bulbo, Crown Prince of Crim Tartary, Duke of Acroceraunia, Marquis of Poluphloisboio, and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Pumpkin. That is the order of the Pumpkin glittering on his manly breast, and received by His Royal Highness from his august father, His Majesty King PADELLA I., for his gallantry at the battle of Rimbombamento, when he slew with his own princely hand the King of Ograria and two hundred and eleven giants of the two hundred and eighteen who formed the King’s bodyguard. The remainder were destroyed by the brave Crim Tartar army after an obstinate combat, in which the Crim Tartars suffered severely.’

What a Prince! thought Angelica: so brave — so calm-looking — so young — what a hero!

‘He is as accomplished as he is brave,’ continued the Court Painter. ‘He knows all languages perfectly: sings deliciously: plays every instrument: composes operas which have been acted a thousand nights running at the Imperial Theatre of Crim Tartary, and danced in a ballet there before the King and Queen; in which he looked so beautiful, that his cousin, the lovely daughter of the King of Circassia, died for love of him.’

‘Why did he not marry the poor Princess?’ asked Angelica, with a sigh.

‘Because they were first cousins, Madam, and the clergy forbid these unions,’ said the Painter. ‘And, besides, the young Prince had given his royal heart elsewhere.’

‘And to whom?’ asked Her Royal Highness.

‘I am not at liberty to mention the Princess’s name,’ answered the Painter. ["VI. How Prince Giglio Behaved Himself," pp. 323-324]

Bibliography

Furniss, Harry. The Rose and The Ring; or, The History of Prince Giglio and the Prince Bulbo. William Makepeace Thackeray's Christmas Books. With illustrations by the author and Harry Furniss. The Harry Furniss Centenary Edition. London: Macmillan and Co., 1911. Pp. 287-428.

Titmarsh, M. A. [W. M. Thackeray].The Rose and The Ring. London: Smith, Elder, 1855.

Created 19 July 2022