Anton Graff (1736 Winterthur - 1813 Dresden) attr; Portrait of Prince Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig of Prussia This representative bust portrait shows Prince Heinrich in armour and with a white collar, wearing the sash of the Order of the Black Eagle and an ermine cloak thrown over his shoulder. "In 1777, I painted Prince Henry in Rheinsberg," Graff noted in his self-biography. From then until 1778, Graff painted a series of portraits of the prince in his studio, bust portraits in both upright rectangular and oval formats, as well as large, full-length portraits in a general's pose. The composition of the present painting is known in several other versions by Graff (including in the Goethe House Museum in Frankfurt am Main and in the Royal Collection in England) and was also realised as early as 1779 in an engraving by Johann Friedrich Bause (1738 - 1814). The subtle lighting and the expressive, precise characterisation of the sitter in this outstanding portrait demonstrate Graff's mastery as a portrait painter. Graff was one of the most important and sought-after portrait painters of his time; there was hardly an important personality in Germany - including princes, statesmen, generals, scholars, poets, artists or merchants - who did not like to be portrayed by him. In 1766 he was appointed court painter at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden by Elector Friedrich August III of Saxony. Graff was also highly esteemed at the Prussian court in Berlin, where he travelled frequently and painted his famous portrait of King Frederick II between 1781 and 1786. Oil on canvas, double; 72 cm x 58 cm. Frame. Prince Frederick Henry Ludwig of Prussia (1726 Berlin - 1802 Rheinsberg) was a younger brother of King Frederick II of Prussia and served successfully as a general in the Seven Years' War. He was also such a skilful diplomat that Heinrich was granted the rule of a kingdom planned by Tsarina Catherine II in Wallachia and was even offered the governorship of England's American colonies until they declared themselves independent in 1776. He spent most of his time every year at the idyllic Rheinsberg Palace, which his brother had given him in 1744 and whose park he had extensively extended. He turned Rheinsberg into a court of the muses, had a new palace theatre built in 1774, which was performed by numerous troupes of actors, concerts were held and numerous visitors formed a small court; the king also often came to visit. Provenance: Auction Hermann Historica. Munich, 9 May 2007, lot 6234; German private collection. Attributed to Anton Graff (1736 - 1813). Oil on canvas, relined. Inscribed on the reverse.