Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany (1859-1941) Signed and dated 1895
Oil on canvas | 224.5 x 128.0 cm (sight) (sight) | RCIN 407679
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This striking full-length portrait of Wilhelm II, wearing the red jacket of a Field Marshall, with ribbon of the Garter, was a birthday present to his grandmother, Queen Victoria. It commemorated Wilhelm's appointment as Honorary Colonel of the Royal Dragoons.
On 15 May 1895 Arthur Stockdale Cope wrote to Lt Col. Sir Fleetwood Edwards informing him that he had 'received instructions from his Majesty the Emperor of Germany to convey to Her Majesty the Queen a full-length portrait of himself as Hon: Col: of the Royal Dragoons. His Majesty is desirous that the Queen should receive the picture on her birthday next week' Cope later confirmed that he would not be able to quite finish the portrait, asking 'Her Majesty the Queen to be so kind as to allow the portrait to comeback for the purposes of having an engraving or photogravure taken for it, and I should have an opportunity of completing the few minor details.' It was requested that the picture be sent to Windsor by Thursday 23 May and Queen Victoria was to postpone her journey to Balmoral. On the 24 May, her birthday, the submission was approved, however the Queen added the comment: 'He has not got the Garter ribbon the right colour'. The portrait was swiftly returned to Cope to be completed and for a photogravure to be made (see RCIN 608162).
On 12 December, 1895 Count Eulenberg wrote to Sir Fleetwood Edwards about the Emperor's wish to have a copy made of the portrait for the Royal Dragoons. Cope was to organise a suitable time to make the copy, although it is not clear whether this was undertaken by the artist himself. Towards the end of the year the painting was still yet to be hung in Windsor Castle, however, by 1909 it was recorded in the Royal Visitor's Sitting Room.
A similar, later, portrait of the Emperor, in Field Marshall's uniform was presented by the sitter to King Edward VII in 1907 (RCIN 406550). A full-length portrait of Wilhelm II, by Rudolf Wimmer, dated 1891 is in the Royal Collection (RCIN 403991).
Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1896 (276)Provenance
Painted in 1895 and presented by the German Emperor to Queen Victoria.
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
224.5 x 128.0 cm (sight) (sight)
274.0 x 164.0 x 18.5 cm (frame) (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Alternative title(s)
Wilhelm II, German Emperor & King of Prussia (1859-1941)