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George IV (1762-1830) when Prince of Wales
Thomas Gainsborough·1782
Historical Context
George IV when Prince of Wales, painted in 1782 and now in the Royal Collection, depicts the future king at age twenty as a charming and handsome young man whose future as a royal patron of the arts, architecture, and social excess was not yet written. By 1782 the Prince of Wales was already developing the independent social world that would eventually make him one of the most controversial figures of the Regency, but in Gainsborough's portrait he appears simply as a young prince of attractive bearing. Gainsborough and the Prince of Wales shared a taste for music and elegant company, and the portrait's easy, natural quality reflects this congenial relationship between artist and sitter. The Royal Collection holds the work alongside Gainsborough's other royal commissions from this period, when he was producing portraits of virtually the entire extended royal family.
Technical Analysis
Gainsborough renders the prince with characteristic elegance, using luminous flesh tones and silvery fabric painting to create an image of youthful royal charm.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the luminous flesh tones: Gainsborough renders the young prince's face with a warmth and translucency that conveys youth and vitality.
- ◆Look at the silvery fabric painting: the prince's clothing shimmers with the characteristic Gainsborough quality, paint becoming light on silk.
- ◆Observe the elegance of the full-length pose: the youthful royal figure is given natural aristocratic ease without the stiffness of official portraiture.
- ◆Find the atmospheric background: landscape and sky, as always — Gainsborough's natural setting for anyone he paints, prince or commoner.
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