Terms and conditions of use
Crown Prince Frederick Augustus of Saxony
(1714) {or (1715)}
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
140.8 × 107.0 cm (canvas)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Everard Studley Miller Bequest, 1968
Gallery location
17th to 18th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This impressive portrait of Frederick Augustus II (1697–1763), Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (as Augustus III), painted when the young Frederick spent a year in Paris in 1714–15, is a companion to Largillierre’s contemporaneous portrait of the prince’s father, Augustus the Strong (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City). Both father and son are shown wearing the sash of the Danish Order of the Elephant, conferred on Frederick Augustus II in 1711. Frederick Augustus II was an enthusiastic patron of the arts who once owned Tiepolo’s The Banquet of Cleopatra.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Paris, France
Accession Number
1819-5
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Abstract Art Landscapes
Subjects (specific)
armour (protective wear) men (male humans) princes (rulers) sashes (costume accessories) swords three-quarter-length figures wigs
Provenance
Collection of Princess von Hohenlohe, Paris, before 1938 collection of Baron d'Huart, Paris, by 1938 d’Huart sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 7 December 1938, no. 38 exhibited Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin, Höfische Bildnisse des Spätbarock, 1966, no.50 private collection, Paris, 1966 with Heim Gallery (dealer), Paris and London, by 1968 from where acquired by the NGV, under the terms of the Everard Studley Miller Bequest, 1968.
Frame
French, c.1730
Frame
The French, Régence, Louis XIV frame on Largilliere’s portrait Crown Prince Frederick Augustus of Saxony is carved in oak. It is in remarkably original condition and a prime example of this type of French frame which was heavily reproduced throughout the nineteenth century and beyond in broad, loosely detailed variations.
It is possible the frame on the Largillierre may be the original presentation of the painting. It forms a well balanced relationship between the emphatic, decorative corners and centres of the frame and the compositional structure of the painting.
Published in Claus Grimm, Alte Bilderrahmen. Callwey 1986, p.132. , who dates the frame to 1730.
Frame Details
Framemaker
Unknown - 18th century
Date
c.1714-15
Materials
carved oak and gold leaf