George, Prince of Wales, and Frederick, later Duke of York, at Buckingham House

Painted in 1765, this double portrait of the future George IV and Frederick, Duke of York, as young children at Buckingham House represents one of Zoffany's most significant royal commissions. George III and Queen Charlotte had engaged Zoffany as their preferred painter of family life, producing intimate images of the royal family in domestic settings entirely unlike the formal state portraiture of earlier traditions. Buckingham House, recently acquired by the Crown, provides the setting, and the children are shown in informal play and interaction. The Royal Collection holds this canvas as part of the extensive group of Zoffany works acquired by George III and Charlotte, who clearly valued his ability to capture individual likeness with warmth and specificity. The painting is an early example of a broader shift in royal portraiture toward accessible, humanised depictions of monarchy.

Zoffany's child portraiture is notable for capturing genuine individuality rather than presenting idealised or generic infantile types. Paint handling is assured and precise in the faces, looser in the costume and setting. The warm interior light gives the composition domestic intimacy appropriate to its subject.