Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
5 of 120 portraits by Allan Ramsay
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- Extended catalogue entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
studio of Allan Ramsay
1761-1762
58 1/4 in. x 42 1/2 in. (1480 mm x 1080 mm)
NPG 224
This portraitback to top
A reduced studio version of Ramsay’s whole-length coronation portrait painted in 1762, which remains in the Royal Collection [1] and was never engraved. For the distribution and execution of the many copies of Ramsay’s portraits of the King and Queen, see George III, NPG 223.
The original in the Royal Collection shows the head turned slightly to the left, tightly-curled powdered hair, a pearl necklace and no bracelets. Subsequent portraits vary in detail. The earliest copies, for example in the Guildhall Art Gallery (39), and at Ragley, and most subsequent examples, show auburn hair with two rows of curls and the head turned slightly to the right, as in NPG 224. The jewellery varied, generally between a necklace of precious stones and bare wrists or, as in NPG 224, with pearl bracelets. A version at Badminton exceptionally shows her hair much darker and a pendant on her right wrist. A miniature half-length copy by Samuel Finney is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Evans 114) and another in the Royal Collection. [2]
Footnotesback to top
1) Sir Oliver Millar, The Later Georgian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, I, 1969, no.997, pl.2; A. Smart ed. J. Ingamells, Allan Ramsay, a complete catalogue of his Paintings, 1999, no.85.
2) R. J. B. Walker, The eighteenth and early nineteenth century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 1992, no.225.
Referenceback to top
Smart 1999
A. Smart, ed. J. Ingamells, Allan Ramsay, a complete catalogue of his Paintings, 1999.
Physical descriptionback to top
Grey eyes, fair hair, in coronation robes; with a jewelled necklace, pale blue gown trimmed with ermine and silver floral decoration; silver skirt embroidered with gold; pearl bracelets on both wrists; the crown of silver and dark grey velvet; a pale-red table cloth and pink drapery hanging above.
Exhibitionsback to top
National Gallery -1920; Scottish Art, RA, 1939 (61).
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.
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