This famous portrait of young Richard II enthroned is from a panel in Westminster Abbey (painted c. 1395).




The Wilton Diptych (commissioned by Richard around 1395 and housed in the National Gallery in London) is a masterpiece of fourteenth century painting. The left panel depicts the young Richard II kneeling before the Virgin Mary. Behind Richard stand St. Edmund (left), St. Edmund the Confessor (center), and St. John the Baptist (right). On the right panel is the Virgin Mary attended by an azure angelic host.


Note that both Richard (left) and the Virgin Mary and her company (right) wear white hart badges. The white hart was an important symbol for Richard II, and he gave white hart badges to members of his inner circle. White harts also commonly appeared as the supporters in Richard's coat of arms.

For more information on the Wilton Diptych, see Dillian Gordon's Making and Meaning: The Wilton Diptych (London, National Gallery Company Ltd., 1993).




Richard II was buried in Wesminster Abbey with his beloved first wife Anne of Bohemia. This is the face on his effigy.