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Frederick William I, King of Prussia

2 of 6 portraits of Frederick William I, King of Prussia

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Frederick William I, King of Prussia

published by John Smith, after Friedrich Wilhelm Weidemann
mezzotint, 1715
7 3/4 in. x 5 3/4 in. (200 mm x 145 mm) plate size, small margins
Purchased, 1944
Reference Collection
NPG D11931

Sitterback to top

Artistsback to top

  • John Smith (1652-1743), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 1181 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Weidemann (1688-1750), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 19 portraits.

Related worksback to top

  • NPG D11636: Frederick William I, King of Prussia (companion portrait)
  • NPG D11932: Sophia Dorothea, Queen of Prussia (companion portrait)
  • NPG D13202: Frederick William I, King of Prussia (from same plate)

Placesback to top

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1715back to top

Current affairs

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke flees to Paris - following his part in secret negotiations around the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 - where he becomes foreign minister to the Pretender, James Stuart. First Jacobite Rebellion begins in Scotland against the rule of George I. The Pretender arrives from France.
Total solar eclipse is seen across southern England; the last total eclipse visible in London for almost 900 years.

Art and science

Artist Jonathan Richardson publishes The Theory of Painting, credited with being the first significant work of artistic theory in English.
Poet Alexander Pope begins his acclaimed translation of Homer's Illiad Architect Colen Campbell creates interest in the Palladian style in Britain with the publication of his Vitruvius Britannicus.


International

Louis XIV of France dies after seventy-two years on the throne. He is succeeded by his five-year old grandson, Louis XV.
British build a permanent factory in Canton, China.

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