Prince Regent (1762–1830), Later George IV

Lawrence painted the Prince Regent, later George IV, around 1800, in one of numerous portraits he produced of the man who would become his most important royal patron. This version, now at Tabley House, was commissioned by Sir John Fleming Leicester for his collection of contemporary British art. Lawrence painted the Prince Regent more often than any other sitter, tracking his transformation from dashing young prince to corpulent monarch over three decades.

Lawrence deploys his full powers of idealization in this portrait, presenting the corpulent Prince Regent with the dignity and grace that the sitter aspired to but nature had increasingly denied. The warm palette and generous brushwork create an impression of regal splendor that tactfully avoids the subject's growing physical bulk.