This early 18th-century oil painting by an artist working in the circle of Nicolas De Largillière (1656-1746) depicts Frédéric III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenbourg (1699-1772), shown here in youth and splendour. Clad in ceremonial armour and wrapped in the scarlet of command, he gazes outward with the calm assurance of rank.
The composition is based upon an original portrait by de Largillière, painted in Paris around 1720 when Frédéric was still a young prince. Largillière, the great portraitist of the French court, was renowned for translating nobility into light, combining regal formality with human warmth. His likeness of the prince became the official image of a dynasty eager to mirror the splendour of Versailles.
This version, executed in France and likely within or near Largillière’s studio, carries the hallmarks of a courtly copy - an image created for diplomatic or dynastic circulation. During this period, portraits such as these were far more than likenesses: they were envoys in paint, dispatched across Europe to affirm alliance, kinship, and legitimacy. In an age when correspondence moved slowly, a portrait could cross borders as their silent yet eloquent representative.
Frédéric’s family, the House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenbourg, stood among the most cultured and politically astute of the German princely houses. His grandmother, Magdalena Sibylla, had cultivated a court famed for its refinement; his descendants would intermarry with European royalty, including Britain’s own Hanoverian line. Within this network of dynastic ambition, art became an instrument of diplomacy. To be painted by, or in the style of, Largillière was to claim a share in France’s cultural majesty - to declare one’s court as aligned with the rhythms of Paris.
In this portrait, Frédéric appears both martial and civil. His gleaming cuirass and plumed attire suggest the gallantry expected of a prince, yet his gentle features betray a reflective temperament. The twilight landscape behind him - clouds dissolving into gold - evokes contemplation. This was a generation of princes raised to think as well as rule, shaped as much by the salons of Paris as by the parade ground.
Copies such as this held deep significance. They allowed the image of youth to endure, even as years passed and courts changed. They carried the dignity of lineage into provincial palaces and family collections, ensuring that the face of power would never quite fade.
Held in a Louis XV-style gilt frame with a deep moulded profile, richly carved rocaille ornament, and scrolling foliage at the corners and centres.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 32½” x 39” / 83cm x 99cm
Year of creation: c. 1730
Provenance: Private collection, France.
Condition: Cleaned. Canvas relined. Later stretcher. Very fine craquelure throughout. The paint layer is stable. Frame in excellent condition.
Our reference: BRV2224
