Porträt des Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand (1735-1806)

Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand (1735–1806), Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, was a significant figure in late eighteenth-century German and European history — a Prussian field marshal and, later, the commander who led the fateful Brunswick Manifesto of 1792 threatening Paris with destruction if the French royal family were harmed. Batoni's 1767 portrait at the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Brunswick captures the prince at thirty-two, years before these events, during a visit to Rome. The Brunswick ducal family had long maintained the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum as a major North German collection, and a Batoni portrait of the ruling heir was a natural acquisition for this institution. The prince's military bearing and German rank would have made him a slightly different type of sitter than the leisured British Grand Tourist.

Oil on canvas with the military portrait vocabulary appropriate to a Prussian field marshal in training: uniform or formal dress with military decorations, a pose conveying martial authority alongside cultural polish. The Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum's possession ensures good provenance and likely excellent condition.