It is one of 26 historical portraits donated in 1850 by Rev George Downing Bowles. This group of paintings were the museum’s first coherent group of artworks – like many museums at the time, the popular subject for curators was natural history rather than fine art – and so this collection marked the very beginnings of the Museum’s interest in art and art history. Nowadays, they are arguably the most significant part of Worcester’s Fine Art collection and are certainly some of the oldest artworks in its care. Prince Rupert, or Rupert of the Rhine, was born in Prague on December 17 1619, the younger son of Elizabeth ‘Winter Queen’ of Bohemia and a nephew of King Charles I.