Currently not on view
George II, King of England (1683–1760),
ca. 1727–32
After Sir Godfrey Kneller, British, 1646–1723
formerly attributed to Charles Jervas, British, ca. 1675–1739
Located in Faculty Room, Nassau Hall
It was under the reign of George II that the charter of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) was granted. In January 1761, a life size portrait of the King was delivered to Princeton and hung in what is now the Faculty Room in Nassau Hall. Sixteen years later, when Nassau Hall was bombarded by American troops during the Battle of Princeton, a cannon ball came through a window and destroyed the portrait.
This portrait of George II was presented to the University in 1936 by four alumni believing it be by Charles Jervas, once thought to have painted the earlier portrait, which is now known to have been produced by John Shackleton, a later court painter to George II. The current portrait is now understood to be after Sir Godfrey Kneller’s portrait of George II when Prince of Wales (1716; Royal Collection, London). In Princeton’s portrait, George the II is presented as King with royal orb and scepter. The identity of the copyist has not yet been established.
Information
ca. 1727–32
Probably Lord Byron, Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire. Presented in 1936 by Alexander Benson, Malcolm Lloyd Jr., and William F. Meredith, all of Class of 1894, and Jay Cooke, Class of 1919.
formerly attributed to Charles Jervas, British, ca. 1675–1739
- Donald D. Egbert, Princeton Portraits, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1947)., fig. 222, pp 317-329
- Karl Kusserow et al., Inner sanctum: memory and meaning in Princeton’s Faculty Room at Nassau Hall, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2010)., p. 60, fig. 12 (illus.)
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Elizabeth Baughan and Karl Kusserow, "Framing history in early Princeton", Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 70 (2011): p 18-29.
, p. 21, fig. 5; p. 24, fig. 11; p. 28, fig. 22
