Portrait George II, King of Great Britain (1683-1760)

Portrait of King George II’s half-figure of the son of George I. He was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 until his death, German Elector of Braunschweig-Lüneburg and nominally one of the dukes of Braunschweig and Lüneburg. On the occasion of his coronation Georg Friedrich Händel composed the four “Coronation Anthems” (HWV 258-261). The illustration shows the king in a magnificent garment with hermelinpelz and coat, which protrudes slightly above the motif edge. He also wears a wig with loops and a chain. In his right hand he has a kind of command staff, he continues to wear a sword on his hip. It seems to be under a kind of curtain or canopy; a cushion with crown and scepter appears on the left edge of the leaf. At the top left of the leaf in the background, the foot of a column with a coat of arms appears on the one hand, and on the other hand a section of a large ship, possibly a warship. The British Museum, the Residence Museum at Celler Schloss, the Duke August Library in Wolfenbüttel and the LWL Museum of Art and Culture in Münster, as well as other institutions, each name a leaf. It is originally meant to be the frontispiz-representation of the book “General Jurist Oraculum.” Signature: Red bag sculps. Caption: Georgius II, D.G. Magn. Britann. Franc. et Hibern. Rex. Defensor Fidei, Dux Brunsv. et Luneburg. S.R.I. Archi-Thesaurarius Elector. (Stiftung Händel-Haus Halle Foundation)