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Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales

by Philip Mercier
oil on canvas, circa 1735-1736
48 3/4 in. x 39 1/2 in. (1238 mm x 1003 mm)
Bequeathed by Miss Lillie Belle Randell, 1931
Primary Collection
NPG 2501

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Philip Mercier (1691-1760), Portrait painter. Artist associated with 26 portraits, Sitter in 3 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Frederick, Prince of Wales did not move to England until 1728. The following year he appointed the German-born Philip Mercier (1691-1760) as his 'Principal Portrait Painter'. Mercier, who later worked in York, was responsible for introducing the rococo style from France. This can be seen in this elegant and informal portrait of the Prince. A departure from more stolid royal portraits, Mercier's work spoke volumes about the Prince's passion for art and his fierce opposition to the King. 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).

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Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1735back to top

Current affairs

Second Parliament under George III. Robert Walpole maintains a substantial majority. Lord Bolingbroke gives up active opposition to Walpole and retires to France. Walpole moves into 10 Downing Street.
Welsh Methodist revival begins.

Art and science

Celebrated dandy Richard 'Beau' Nash appoints himself Master of Ceremonies at Tunbridge Wells.
William Hogarth founds the second St Martin's Lane Academy of Painting.
Lawyer and amateur meteorologist George Hadley publishes the first explanation of the trade winds


International

Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus publishes a 'system of nature', capable of classifying all living things.
Swedish chemist Georg Brandt discovers a new metallic element, which he names cobalt.
A revivalist movement in America, led by Jonathan Edwards, becomes known as the Great Awakening.
Composer Johann Sebastian Bach debuts his Ascension Oratorio in Leipzig.

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