A Young Knight of the Garter, Possibly George Augustus (1683–1760), Later George II of Great Britain and Ireland

Neither this miniature nor its pendant (62.122.104) was received at The Met with a traditional identification, but they appear to have remained together as a pair of related portraits. The sitter in this miniature wears the Garter ribbon. Among the persons invested with that order in the early years of the eighteenth century was George Augustus, the son of George Louis (later elector of Hanover and George I of Great Britain and Ireland) by his wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle. The future George II received the Garter in 1706. Although this is somewhat earlier in date than the standard Kneller portrait of 1716 (Oliver Millar, The Tudor, Stuart and Early Georgian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, London, 1963, no. 34-3, pl. 14-7), the comparison suggests that he may be portrayed here. The possibility would be strengthened if, as has been surmised, the pendant depicts a princess of Hanover.

[2016; adapted from Reynolds and Baetjer 1996]

Mrs. Leopold (Millie Bruhl) Fredrick, New York (by 1943–d. 1962; inv., 1943, no. 68; inv., 1960, no. 16)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "European Miniatures in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 5, 1996–January 5, 1997, no. 100.

Inventory of the miniatures in the Fredrick collection. 1943, p. 7, no. 68, as by Bernard Lens.

Edward Grosvenor Paine. Inventory of the miniatures in the Fredrick collection. 1960, p. 3, no. 16, with MMA 62.122.104, as "Prince and Princess"; attributes them to Werner Hassel, about 1680.

Fabienne Xavière Sturm. Letter to Katharine Baetjer. December 11, 1995, reports that Hans Boeckh identifies the sitters as Sophia Dorothea of Hanover her husband, Georg Ludwig [erroneous, as the latter was Sophia Dorothea's father]; notes that Boeckh doubts the attribution to Arlaud.

Graham Reynolds with the assistance of Katharine Baetjer. European Miniatures in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, pp. 118–19, no. 100, ill., speculate as to the identity of the sitter; suggest that it may be George Augustus, later George II, based on comparison with a Kneller portrait of 1716 in the Royal Collection (St. James's Palace, London); state that the possibility would be strengthened if its pendant, MMA 62.122.104, does in fact depict a princess of Hanover [see Ref. Sturm 1995].