Frederick William I, King of Prussia

by John Smith, after Friedrich Wilhelm Weidemann
mezzotint, 1715
8 in. x 6 1/8 in. (204 mm x 154 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D13202

Sitterback to top

Frederick William I, King of Prussia (1688-1740), Reigned 1713-40. Sitter associated with 6 portraits.

Artistsback to top

John Smith (1652-1743), Engraver. Artist associated with 1180 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.
Friedrich Wilhelm Weidemann (1688-1750), Painter. Artist associated with 19 portraits.

Related worksback to top

NPG D11931: Frederick William I, King of Prussia (from same plate)

Portrait setback to top

Macdonnell Collection

Subject/Themeback to top

Mezzotint

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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