Jean-Baptiste Paulin Guérin (1783-1855) undertook an apprenticeship as a locksmith, and also attended the École de Dessin in Marseilles. Proabably due to a paucity of locksmithing jobs, he was able to dedicate himself to painting. Payment from a commission to copy a painting provided the artist with the funding to go to Paris. For a while he was employed by Baron Gérard and around 1815 was given free entry to the studio of François André Vincent. Paulin Guérin was director of drawing and painting at the educational establishment of the Légion d'Honneur at St-Denis. He exhibited at the Salon from 1812 to 1855 and in 1822 was awarded the Légion d'Honneur.

Many of Paulin Guérin's portraits of notable figures from the First and Second Empires are in the museums of Toulon, his native town, and Versailles. The clarity in his rendering of facial features and the expression he put into the portrayal of hands was a result of psychological insight allied to a technical mastery.

This portrait was commissioned by the King and presented by him to George IV with an inscription, recorded by Benjamin Jutsham, ‘Donné par le Roi à son Ami le Prince Regent’. Many replicas were subsequently made, including one now at the Versailles Museum.

The King wears coronation robes embroidered with the fleur-de-lys, an ermine-lined mantle over his shoulders and the collar of the Order of the Saint Esprit. His right hand rests on his sceptre, while the crown of Louis XV and the sceptre with the ‘Hand of Justice’ rests on the table. He wears Joyeuse, the sword of Charlemagne. There is a large throne behind.