King George II
3 of 57 portraits of King George II
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- Extended Catalogue Entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
King George II
by Thomas Hudson
oil on canvas, 1744
86 1/8 in. x 57 3/4 in. (2188 mm x 1467 mm)
Given by H.M. Office of Works, 1883
Primary Collection
NPG 670
Artistback to top
- Thomas Hudson (1701-1779), Portrait painter and art collector. Artist or producer associated with 182 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Commissioned in 1744 by Lord Chief Justice Willes for the Court of Common Pleas. More detailed information on this portrait is available in a National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue, John Kerslake's Early Georgian Portraits (1977, out of print).
Linked publicationsback to top
- Smartify image discovery app
- Cannadine, Sir David (Introduction); Cooper, Tarnya; Stewart, Louise; MacGibbon, Rab; Cox, Paul; Peltz, Lucy; Moorhouse, Paul; Broadley, Rosie; Jascot-Gill, Sabina, Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits, 2018 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA, 7 October 2018 -3 February 2019. Bendigo Art Gallery, Australia, 16 March - 14 July 2019.), p. 173
- Kerslake, John, Early Georgian Portraits, 1977, p. 91
- Livingstone, Natalie, author., The mistresses of Cliveden / Natalie Livingstone., 2015, p. 204
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 240
- Williamson, David, Kings and Queens, 2010, p. 132
- Williamson, David, The National Portrait Gallery: History of the Kings and Queens of England, 1998, p. 133
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1744back to top
Current affairs
John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville resigns over criticism of his foreign policy. Henry Pelham and Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle form the 'Broad-Bottom Administration'.HMS Victory is wrecked on the Casquets in the Channel Islands with the loss of around 900 lives.
Art and science
Philosopher David Hume publishes his Essays Moral and Political.Poet Alexander Pope dies.
First known Laws of cricket are drawn up by a group of noblemen and gentlemen who use the Artillery Ground in London.
International
Navigator George Anson returns home after sailing around the world.War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia marches on Prague, initiating the Second Silesian War. British fleet defeated by a Franco-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Toulon. Bad weather causes the French to abandon invasion of Britain with the Scottish pretender Charles Edward Stuart. The Quadruple Alliance of Britain, Austria, Saxony-Poland and the Netherlands is formed against Prussia.
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