George IV: Art and Spectacle


Sumptuous exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery looking at the life and collecting of George IV.

The show started with some wonderful portraits of George’s siblings including some on copper by Peter Edward Stroehing. These were gentle, intimate pictures and made you want to go and look up what had happened to them all. There were also some wonderful cartoons of the time many of them collected by George himself.

In the large gallery there were recreated decorative scheme with over the top furniture and ceramics. These were show with some of the full length portraits from the Waterloo cycle celebrating the victorious generals and monarchs, these included a wonderful portrait of Pope Pious VII by Thomas Lawrence.

The third room looked in detail at Carlton House, given to George for his 21st birthday, which he renovated and filled with objects and paintings, many acquired in the aftermath of the French Revolution. It was all very ornate but it was fascinating to see which pictures had been added to the Royal Collection at this time. These included the wonderful Rembrandt of Agatha Bas as well as his “The Ship Builder and his Wife”. There was also Ruben’s St George in a landscape with Charles I as St George.

The best thing about the show was the revelations it threw up! There was a diadem made for George for his coronation which is the one worn by the Queen on stamps, George’s copy of Emma signed by Jane Austen, and this quirky picture of a fencing match held as Carlton House between the composer, Chevalier de Saint George and the cross dresser, Chevalier D’Eon.

Closes 3 May 2020

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