Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723)
George II (1683-1760) when Prince of Wales Signed and dated 1716
Oil on canvas | 239.2 x 147.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 404389
Garter Throne Room, Windsor Castle
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Kneller was born in Lubeck, studied with Rembrandt in Amsterdam and by 1676 was working in England as a fashionable portrait painter. He painted seven British monarchs (Charles II, James II, William III, Mary II, Anne, George I and George II), though his portraits of Charles II are not longer in the collection, and in 1715 was the first artist to be made a Baronet (the next was John Everett Millais in 1885). A set of portraits of naval heroes was given by George IV to the Royal Naval Hospital in Greenwich in 1824.
This is a version of a much-repeated composition by Kneller showing the future George II wearing the robes of the Garter, resting his right hand on a table besides his plumed hat of the Order and his Prince of Wales coronet.Provenance
Bought by King Edward VII when Prince of Wales in 1894
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
239.2 x 147.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
256.8 x 165.0 x 6.5 cm (frame, external)