Anton Friedrich König, court miniaturist from 1767, painted numerous miniatures of Frederick the Great.Remarkably, however, he created few replicas and instead showed great aptitude in varying the poses. The representation of the head in many of his later miniatures was similar to that in paintings by Ziesenis (around 1763) and Franke (1764),¹ for the king steadfastly refused to sit for his portrait and probably never did so. This miniature shows “Alter Fritz” (Old Fritz)sitting – a rarity in König’s representation of the ruler, for he usually painted knee-length portraits of him standing. This portrait of the king was painted after Franke’s original, but the sitter was somewhat “aged” by König, as he produced the miniature presumably a decade later. The monarch sits in a simple armchair and is shown with his distinguishing attributes: in his right hand he displays an opened book to express his great literary interest. Hiswalking stick is dangling from his wrist, and in his left hand he holds a snuffbox. These were his great passions and cost him considerable sums due to their exceedingly rich gemstone ornamentation. His clothes reflect the standard dress for the ruler after the Seven Years’ War: high black boots, trousers of black velvet, and the sober blue tunic with red collar and cuffs, with the star of the Order of the Black Eagle sown onto it. There are no attributes of a ruling monarch. This unpretentious representation, upon which Frederick the Great set great value and which had already dominated the portraits of his father, characterised the king’s image and earned him the respect and admiration of his contemporaries.

B. P.

The Tansey Miniatures Foundation

The Tansey Miniatures Foundation