German School, 18th century
Adolphus Friedrich IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1738-1794) c.1780
Watercolour on card | 2.5 x 1.7 cm (sight) (sight) | RCIN 420762
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Adolphus Frederick IV, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1738-94) was Queen Charlotte's eldest brother. He is shown wearing the ribbon and star of the Order of the Garter with which he had been invested in 1764. He also wears the cross of the Order of St Esprit (the Holy Spirit). Queen Charlotte and her brother corresponded regularly until the duke's death in 1794 and Charlotte's seventh son, Prince Adolphus (later duke of Cambridge), was named after his uncle.
Adolphus succeeded his father as duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1752. Dr Nugent, who visited his court in 1766, described him as a paragon of virtue: 'His chief diversion is doing good, in extending himself in acts of benevolence towards his subjects whose happiness seems to constitute the sole object of his ambition'.
The miniature was probably copied from a portrait by Daniel Woge.Provenance
First recorded in the Royal Collection in 1870
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour on card
Measurements
2.5 x 1.7 cm (sight) (sight)
3.6 x 2.8 cm (frame, external)
Other number(s)
RL 1870 23.C.2Alternative title(s)
Adolphus Frederick IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1738-1794)