George II (1683-1760) c.1745
Oil on canvas | 127.3 x 101.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 406603
-
Morier was a Swiss military and sporting painter who started working for William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-65) in 1747, when he painted a series of pictures of troops under his command. From 1752 until 1764 he was employed as ‘limner’ (painter) to the Duke on an annual salary of £100; his name also appears regularly in royal accounts from 1764 to 1767. This is a variant on a reduiced scale of Morier's life-size portrait (RCIN 404413). It shows the King mounted on a grey horse, wearing a black tricorn hat and a red military coat over a breast plate with the riband and star of the Garter. French and British troops engage each other in left background, with artillery firing in the middle distance.
Provenance
Purchased in 1812 by George IV from the clockmaker, Benjamin Louis Vulliamy (1780-1854); recorded in store at Carlton House in 1816 (no 267) and 1819 (no 440); taken to the King's (Royal) Lodge in Windsor Park in 1823
-
Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
-
Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
127.3 x 101.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
147.45 x 121.8 x 7.0 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Subject(s)