George I (1714–1727)

This portrait of George I reflects the crucial phase of Kneller's role as image-maker for the Hanoverian succession — disseminating the new king's appearance through multiple painted versions and engravings to an English public that had never seen him before his arrival in 1714. George I's visual establishment required the systematic production and distribution of authoritative portraits through Kneller's workshop, and this version participates in that project. The new king's German appearance, Lutheran background, and inability to speak English were challenges that royal portraiture had to overcome, investing an unfamiliar figure with the regal dignity appropriate to a British constitutional monarch.

The royal portrait follows established conventions for depicting the sovereign, with formal regalia and authoritative pose rendered in Kneller's characteristically broad and efficient late manner.