King George II

Thomas Hudson's portrait of King George II, painted in 1744 and now in the National Portrait Gallery, depicts Britain's monarch at sixty in a standard official portrait format disseminated through copies and engravings across the British Empire. George II was the last British monarch to lead his troops in battle, having commanded at Dettingen in 1743, and portraits from this period often emphasize his military character. Hudson, as the dominant British portrait painter of the 1740s and teacher of Reynolds, shaped the visual image of the Hanoverian establishment. This portrait stands as the definitive mid-reign likeness and the basis for many subsequent copies.

Hudson presents the king in the standard full-length formula of British official portraiture: elaborate uniform, wig, and baton of command. The face shows his characteristic competent but uninflected modeling. Decorative elements — the Garter star, gold braid — are rendered with careful attention to their social significance.