Christoph Friedrich Reinhold Lisiewsky (Lisiewski). (1725 Berlin - 1794 Ludwigslust) Portrait of Duke Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin An expressive, characterising, official, courtly portrait of the Duke (1717 - 1785), who had reigned since 1756, at the age of 65, created in 1782. He wears the light blue silk ribbon and the breast star of the diamond-studded Danish Order of the Elephant. While the airy, light colouring is still rococo, the strong plasticity in the depiction of the face and the precision of the details already correspond to the newer stylistic tendencies of classicism. The oval portrait, for which there are comparable pictures in the Staatl. Museum in Schwerin, was painted in the same year as his highly impressive portrait of King Frederick II of Prussia in Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin (on loan from the National Gallery). What both have in common is Lisiewsky's unembellished depiction of the traces of life. The portrait painter, who came from an important Berlin family of artists, was court painter to the princes of Anhalt-Dessau from 1752-1772, ran a studio in Berlin together with his sister Anna Dorothea Therbusch from 1773-1779 and was appointed to the ducal court in Ludwigslust in 1778. Oil on canvas; 65.5 cm x 51 cm, in oval. Enclosed: Expertise by Prof. Dr Helmut Börsch-Supan, Berlin. Oil on canvas. Accompanied by an expertise from Professor Dr. Helmut Börsch-Supan, Berlin.