The music party: Frederick, Prince of Wales with his three eldest sisters

Mercier, Philippe (1689-1760)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

ca. 1733

Height:

79.4 cm  (31 1/4 in.)

Width:

57.8 cm  (22 3/4 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Description

The 26-year-old Prince of Wales is shown playing the cello with his three eldest sisters, but the individual princesses cannot be identified with certainty. The most likely arrangement is (left to right), Anne, Princess Royal (age 24) playing harpsichord, Princess Amelia (age 22) plucking a mandolino, and Princess Caroline (age 20) reading from Milton. In the background is the Dutch House at Kew where Anne lived before her marriage in 1734 to Prince William of Orange. Mercer was principal painter to the Prince of Wales and drawing master to the Princesses.

People as subjects

Frederick Louis, prince of Wales (1707-1751) (Musician)
Anne, Princess, consort of William IV, Prince of Orange (1709-1759) (Musician)
Amelia, Princess, daughter of George II, King of Great Britain (1711-1786) (Musician)
Caroline Elizabeth, Pricess of Great Britain, Daughter of George II of Great Britain (1713-1757)

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Violoncello [3582]
Harpsichord [2251]
Mandole [3397] (also known as mandolino)

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Hunter, David. "Handel's students, two lovers and a shipwreck", Early music 39/2 (May 2011) 157-164, ill. 1. RILM 2011-02550.

Notes

Two other versions of this painting survive, showing the exterior of Dutch House, Kew in the background; one is at the National Portrait Gallery, London (RIdIM item 4282), and the other is at Frederick's one-time residence, Cliveden (RIdIM item 4283). The position of the sitters and their activities are the same in all three pictures.

RIdIM record id

4284