Princess Augusta (1768-1840) Signed and dated 1807
Oil on copper | 61.0 x 47.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 404869
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Stroehling’s work in the Royal Collection allows us to trace a rare example of continuity between the masters of the Dutch Golden Age and those of the early nineteenth century. Stroehling was brought up in Dusseldorf where a magnificent collection of the polished, classicising and elegant works (often on copper) by artists such as Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722) had been formed by Johann Wilhelm II, Elector Palatine (1658-1716). Stroehling worked all over Europe but spend much of the first two decades of the nineteenth century in London; between 1810 and 1820 he was even styled ‘Historical Painter to the Prince of Wales’. Stroehling’s work elsewhere tended to be life-sized portraiture, but the Royal Collection has an important group of small-scale portraits on copper, executed with fine detail and a glossy finish; Joseph Farington perceptively referred to them as ‘painted in a Vanderwerfe manner’. Stroehling’s price for these ‘Cabinet Pictures’ was 200 guineas each, an impressive sum in the period even for a life-sized work. This is one of six paintings of the Queen and her five daughters, commissioned by George IV and delivered to Carlton House in December 1807 (OM 1094-9, 404863, 404869-70, 404866, 404864, 404871), which suggest that the Princesses are models of dignity and virtue from the ancient world, demonstrating every feminine accomplishment. Princess Augusta is shown wearing a robe lined with leopard skin; on a classical table are a bowl of fruit and the score of 'Rule, Britannia'; the wall behind her is decorated with a classical relief of a ship; musical instruments lie on the floor Incised on the back with the name of the artist and sitter and ‘done at Windsor 1807’.
Provenance
Painted for George IV; returned to the artist for exhibition in 1808; recorded in store at Carlton House in 1816 (no 393) and 1819 (no 489); taken to the King's Lodge (Royal Lodge) in Windsor Park in 1823
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on copper
Measurements
61.0 x 47.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
90.5 x 76.1 x 11.3 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)