Lot 52 Dα

King Frederick II of Prussia was more highly revered than many other personalities of his century and was therefore frequently portrayed. Johann Heinrich Christian Franke created numerous portraits of the King, the most famous of which was probably the depiction of him tipping his hat with his right hand. Although this three-quarter length portrait is much more imposing by comparison, the aged facial features of the king bear close resemblance to the work by Franke, indicating that it was probably created by an artist in his circle. The depiction of the figure against a landscape background, on the other hand, can already be found in full-length portraits of the much younger king by Antoine Pesne and ultimately goes back to the generals' portraits developed by Hyazinthe Rigaud.

This painting shows Frederick the Great in three-quarter length wearing an elegant dark blue frock coat embroidered in silver, with the characteristic tricorn hat and the ribbon and star of the Order of the Black Eagle. In his raised right hand he holds a military baton and points commandingly to the battlefield in the landscape background. Beside the king, an ermine-lined cloak embroidered with the royal crown and a magnificent helmet surrounded by a laurel wreath indicate his princely and military rank.