Otto II, the Magnanimous, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1439-1471) c.1595
Watercolour on vellum | 7.0 x 5.5 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 420431
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This is one of the series of forty-nine portrait miniatures (420431-420679; Royal Collection) of German and other forebears of the Hanoverian dynasty which were first recorded hanging in Queen Caroline's Closet at Kensington Palace by George Vertue in 1743. The series can be dated fairly narrowly by internal evidence to the years between 1593-7 and appears to be the work of a single as yet unidentified miniature painter who worked mainly at the Brunswick-Lüneburg court but also visited Brandenburg and other centres. The artist was a naïve successor to the tradition of German court portraiture established by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) at the court of the Elector of Saxony at Wittenberg. Otto the Magnanimous was the second son of Frederick the Pious (d. 1478) (see 420427). HIs grandfather was Bernhard of Lüneburg who was the founder of the Middle House of Lüneburg while his younger brother, Henry, founded the Middle House of Brunswick. When Frederick the Pious retired into a monastery in 1459, Otto II became joint reigning Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg with his brother Bernhard II and sole ruler on the latter's death in 1464. Inscribed at the top in white: OTTO HERZOG ZU BRUN UND LUNNEBURG.
Provenance
Acquired during the reign of George I or George II; first recorded in Queen Caroline's Closet at Kensington Palace in 1743.
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour on vellum
Measurements
7.0 x 5.5 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
8.3 x 6.8 cm (frame, external)
6.9 x 5.9 cm (sight)
Other number(s)