Queen Charlotte (of Mecklenburg-Strelitz) (1744-1818)

Nathaniel Dance-Holland painted Queen Charlotte around 1768, one of his official royal portraits produced in the years immediately following the Royal Academy's foundation in which he played a founding role. Dance was among the most successful portraitists of the 1760s before his retirement from professional painting, and his royal portraits combined the formal dignity required by official commissions with a directness of characterization that avoided mere ceremonial flattery. Queen Charlotte — the consort of George III who presided over the British court for nearly sixty years — is depicted with the formal splendor appropriate to her station.

Dance renders the queen's elaborate court dress and jewels with careful precision, following the conventions of royal portraiture. The formal composition and restrained palette reflect Dance's classical training under Batoni in Rome.