A Royal Hunting Party at Göhrde Dated 1725
Oil on canvas | 136.8 x 171.5 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 404363
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The artist who painted this hunting scene is unknown, but both the setting and figures can be identified. The hunting party are gathered in front of Göhrde Hunting Lodge ('Schloss Göhrde'), identified in the inscription at the bottom right-hand corner, along with the date, 1725.
Schloss Göhrde was a country house built on a grand scale eighty miles north-east of Hanover, constructed between 1709-12 for George I, when Elector of Hanover, by the French architect Louis-Remy de la Fosse (c.1659-1726). Displaying a distinctively French architectural style, in contrast to the surrounding German woods, the palace was intended to entertain and impress foreign dignitaries: it was one of George I's most expensive architectural projects, and it can be clearly seen, with its unusually high walls, in the background to this painting.
Even after becoming King of Britain in 1714, George I returned to Göhrde: he visited it each one of the five times he returned to his homeland, including for the last time in 1725. This painting therefore commemorates his last trip to the castle; after the king's death the building fell into disrepair, and it was finally demolished in 1827.
The key at the bottom of the painting provides identifications for twenty-six of the figures: George I and his suite and Frederick William I of Prussia with his smaller suite appear in the foreground, mounted and dressed for the chase; also present are Frederick, Prince of Wales, Mehemet and Mustapha 'Cammer Dieners'.
An almost identical painting is known in Weimar, in the private collection of the one of the other sitters' descendants, suggesting that multiple copies of this painting may have been produced.Provenance
Presented to George IV from Hanover in 1819; added to the inventory of Carlton House dated 1819 (no 557)
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
136.8 x 171.5 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
160.3 x 195.1 x 7.5 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
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Alternative title(s)
George I (1660-1727), with family and suite, and Frederick William I, King of Prussia, with family and suite, hunting the stag in the forest at Göhrde.