Lot Essay
Alongside John Wootton and James Seymour, Peter Tillemans was one of the most influential proponents of English sporting painting. The son of a diamond-cutter, Tillemans was born in Antwerp, where he studied landscape painting. He moved to England in 1708 and developed a successful practice painting panoramic views of country houses for a variety of aristocratic patrons, including the Dukes of Somerset and Portland, and the Earl of Portmore.
Frederick Louis, later Prince of Wales, was born at Leine Palace in Hanover, eldest son of George II and Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach. His relationship with his parents was notoriously tumultous, and he remained in Hanover long after they had relocated to England, finally moving to London in 1728, where he took up residence at Carlton House, and later Leicester House. Although he was George II's heir apparent, but did not survive long enough to succeed to the throne. During his lifetime he was a dedicated patron of painting, decorative arts and music, commissioning works from Jacopo Amigoni, Jean-Baptiste van Loo and Philippe Mercier. He took a keen interest in Charles I’s extensive art collection, to which he added his own notable acquisitions by Rubens, van Dyck and Claude Lorrain.
The painting bears close resemblance to a portrait of similar dimensions by Tillemans, whose sitter was identified by Robert Raines as Frederick’s father, George II (see R. Raines, 'Peter Tillemans, Life and Work, with a list of representative paintings', The Walpole Society, 1978-80, XLVII, p. 57, no. 71, pl. 19d).