6050 - Pesne, Antoine - Umkreis

Pesne, Antoine - Umkreis Umkreis. Portrait of Friedrich Heinrich, Prince of Prussia and Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Oil on canvas, mounted on a backing board. 80.5 x 64 cm. The Margraves of Brandenburg-Schwedt were a younger branch of the Prussian royal house, for whom Electress Dorothea acquired the dominion of Schwedt-Wildenbruch in the Uckermark and in Hinterpommern. However, the counts’ standing within the family declined within a few generations. This was due in no small part to the lifestyle of Friedrich Heinrich (1709–1788), who, as the third and last Margrave, assumed rule in 1771 at the age of 62 and lived according to the motto “Pleasure and good manners.” Under his rule, the Baroque renovation of Schwedt was completed. This portrait depicts the Margrave in a blue coat and cuirass, wearing the ribbon of the Order of the Black Eagle. His likeness is also preserved in a pastel by Johann Heinrich Schmidt (Neil Jeffares: *Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800*, online edition, Schmidt, No. J.662.154); a lost portrait by Antoine Pesnes was formerly housed at Hoym Castle (see Gustav Parthey: Deutscher Bildersaal: Verzeichniss der in Deutschland vorhandenen Oelbilder verstorbener Maler aller Schulen, Vol. 2, Berlin, 1864, p. 243, No. 71). - Please request condition reports for the lots, as the condition is usually not specified in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.