42 - Runge P. Umkreis (1777, Wolgast – Hamburg, 1810), Portrait of Duke Wilhelm of Brunswick as a Child.

Runge P. Umkreis (1777, Wolgast – Hamburg, 1810), Portrait of Duke Wilhelm of Brunswick as a Child. Oil on canvas. (ca. 1808). Approx. 50 x 41 cm. On the stretcher with an old collection label, inscribed by hand. The portrait depicts Wilhelm of Brunswick (1806–1884) as a young boy, carefree and still far removed from his later role as duke. As the younger son of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Brunswick—the famous “Black Duke” and celebrated war hero who fell in battle against Napoleon in 1815—he was not initially intended to rule the duchy. Together with his older brother Charles II, he spent a turbulent childhood, marked by the political unrest of the time and the early loss of both parents. While Charles II assumed the throne in 1824, William initially pursued a military career in Prussian service. With his authoritarian style of governance, Charles became increasingly unpopular with the population. In 1830, this discontent finally erupted into a popular uprising, during which the Brunswick Residential Palace was set ablaze and Karl was forced to flee to London. Wilhelm permanently assumed the government of the duchy in 1831. With a new constitution that guaranteed important civil rights and numerous reforms, he shaped the country for over five decades. Since Wilhelm left no heir, the older Brunswick line of the House of Welf became extinct upon his death in 1884. Provenance: Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1921. Fischer Art Auctions, April 12–15, 2000, Lot 2061; Private collection, Baden-Württemberg. Taxation: subject to differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).