In the original animated film; Beauty and The Beast, the main protagonist is transformed into a monstrous, beast after his rude dismissal of an enchantress who was disguised as an old beggar. Although the movie doesn't show prince Adam when he has the spell cast upon him and doesn't explicitly state how old he might have been once he became a monster, it is heavily implied that his age was about eleven years old. The biggest evidence to support this lies within the story's narrative:
"Once upon a time in a far away land a young prince lived in a shiny castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind, but then one winter's night an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered the gift and turned the old woman away, but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within.
When he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late for she had seen that there was no love in his heart and as punishment she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle and all who lived there.
Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered, was truly an enchanted rose which would bloom until his 21st year. If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last pedal fell, then the spell would be broken."
Another piece of evidence to back this up can be found in the second musical number: Be Our Guest. During the song "Be Our Guest" Lumiere states "for ten years, we've been rusting", implying that the same spell which had transformed Adam and his servants, had been active for about ten years. Based on his statement, Adam should be 20 years old until the end of the film. Despite the evidence pointing to the prince's age as 11, two things make absolutely no sense; for example:
1. If all the servants along with the maid's son were transformed into furniture, cutlery, candles, and other inanimate objects, why is Adam the only one who actually ages when the curse is lifted?
2. If the prince truly was eleven at the time of his transformation why are there paintings of him representing an older version of himself on the wall instead of portraits of a more youthful child in his preteen years?
In terms of Adam's servants and the maid's son, there are a few things we need to take in to account in order to understand how the spell works. When the enchantress stated that the rose would bloom until his 21st, this means that she intended for the prince to age and never implemented any form of age retardant to suspend his youth, he was only transformed into a beast. Of course this explanation doesn't really answer the question... or does it? Let's consider this; Adam, even in his beast form is still a mammal and much like any other warm blooded mammal , he is capable of aging from adolescences to adulthood; however, his servants were nothing more than lifeless objects that were inhabited by the essence of humans. As a result their aging process had been suspended; inanimate objects do not age in the same manner as living organisms.
When it comes to the question as to why Adam only possessed portraits of himself as a man, we must take a look back and focus on the description of his personality. The narrative of the story states Adam was: "spoiled, selfish, and unkind". After he became the beast he was arrogant, stubborn, serious, and cynical. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume the same arrogance he held as a monster was present during the incident which resulted in him becoming a ferocious creature. Individuals who are spoiled or arrogant are self-absorbed, often considering themselves to be higher than others, so it should not come to any surprise that he would have himself painted as a man.
After looking at the mystery surrounding the Beast's age, it becomes clear Disney's plan for that portion of the film was created with full intent to showcase a subtle, visual deception, which led to something much deeper than what he had expected. As a result the viewer is granted more insight into the tortured mind of a cynical, egotistical, prince.
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