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Attributed to Christian Richter (1678-1732)

Sophia Dorothea, Queen of Prussia (1687-1757) c.1706

Watercolour on vellum | 6.2 x 5.2 cm (sight) (sight) | RCIN 420506

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  • Sophia Dorothea was the only daughter of George I and Queen Sophia. In 1706 she married the Crown Prince, later Frederick William I, King of Prussia, and they had 11 children, their oldest son becoming Frederick II the Great (1712-86). Baron von Pöllnitz described her in his memoirs: 'she does every thing that is worthy of her August Extraction; for surely never did Daughter more resemble a Father; she has the same Benignity and Wisdom, the same Equity and Justice, and Sweetness of Temper. Like him she knows the Charms of a private Life, and Friendship, on a Throne: Like him she is ador'd by her Subjects and her Domestics, and is the chief Blessing and Darling of both …To a thousand Virtues worthy of Veneration, she has added the singular Talent of speaking the Language of several Countries which she never saw … and the Grandeur and Majesty that accompany all her Actions, induce those even who don't know her, to be of Opinion that she was born to reign.'
    This miniature was probably painted when Sophia Dorothea married in 1706 in Berlin, but accurate dating is difficult. Her hairstyle and clothes are similar to a portrait of her now in the National Portrait Gallery in London by J. L. Hirschmann and dated 1706. Fashions did not change rapidly, however, and she has a very similar hairstyle and costume in her portrait painted in Berlin in 1714 by Friedrich Wilhelm Weideman, and now known from John Smith's mezzotint of the painting.

    Stylistically, this miniature appears to be by Christian Richter (1678-1732), who was born in Stockholm and settled in London in 1702 where his compatriots, Hans Hysing and Michael Dahl, had thriving British practices. Many of Richter's miniatures are copies from full-scale portraits by leading artists. Richter began his career as a silversmith then moved to miniature painting, first on vellum and later on enamel. George Vertue, the engraver and antiquary, described Richter's style: 'his Manner of Painting very tender and Curious, his tincts had a great variety his pencil regular and neat, his lines of drawing very just & toucht with freedom'.
    Provenance

    First recorded in the Royal Collection in 1851

  • Medium and techniques

    Watercolour on vellum

    Measurements

    6.2 x 5.2 cm (sight) (sight)

    7.5 x 6.7 cm (frame, external)


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