Frederick the Great on Horseback, 1871

ArtistWilhelm Camphausen, Düsseldorf 1818–1885 Düsseldorf

Oil on canvas

Dimensions without frame196,5 × 172,5 cm

Dimensions with frame235 × 210 × 17 cm

Status

not on display

About the workA cannonball lands in front of the horse; it shies away, but Frederick the Great remains undaunted. This is how the Düsseldorf artist Wilhelm Camphausen idealised the eighteenth-century king and general. The artist, who specialised in military painting, had been commissioned by the then King William I to create a series of portraits of rulers for the Berlin City Palace. The original picture of Frederick the Great is now missing; Camphausen probably repainted this version in order to sell it. The work is a prime example of representational history painting during the German Empire.

AccessionAcquisition 1871

Provenance1871 „Verein zur Errichtung einer Gemälde-Gallerie zu Düsseldorf“ angekauft vom Künstler; 1913 übernommen in die Städtischen Kunstsammlungen zu Düsseldorf (heute Kunstpalast Düsseldorf)

Inventory numberM 5601

Contact

sammlung@kunstpalast.de

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https://sammlung.kunstpalast.de/en/objects/142089/friedrich-der-groe-zu-pferde

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