Attributed John Riley (1646-1691) Portrait of Prince George ...

Hammer

£3,400

Attributed John Riley (1646-1691)
Portrait of Prince George of Denmark (1653-1708)
Oil on canvas
In a gilded sunderland frame

John Riley emerged as leading court portraitist during the period between the death of Peter Lely in 1680 and the ascendency of Godfrey Kneller, with whom he was appointed joint Principal Painter to William III and Mary II in 1688.

Prince George of Denmark was the younger brother of Christian V of Denmark. He married Queen Anne in 1683 and was described by the diarist John Evelyn as having ‘the Danish Countenance, blound; a young man of few words, seemed somewhat heavy; but reported Valient’. Here Prince George is shown in semi-classical costume, wearing a breastplate with the ribbon of the Garter and holding a baton. This military image was appropriate to his position as Lord High Admiral and generalissimo of land and sea forces, to which he was appointed on his wife’s accession in 1702.

Provenance:
Earls of Jersey;
Middleton Park sale (c. 1930).

Dimensions:
(frame) 61 in. (H) x 47 in. (W)
(canvas) 47 in. (H) x 37 in. (W)