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Webster’s defines "fop" as an "affectedly fashionable man." In my day, such a man would have been called a "dandy" and, now, a "metrosexual." Back in the 1760s, this man was known as George III. At 22, he ruled over the world’s largest empire, with 31 colonies from North America to Borneo to the Bay of Bengal to Honduras.
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts has recently hung Sir Allan Ramsay’s full-length portrait of this historic ruler, after it has been in storage and undergoing restoration since the bicentennial 30 years ago.
The installation is appropriate, since Fourth of July is next week. In fact, the piece hangs beside two of the Academy’s – and the country’s – iconic paintings: the "George Washington" ("Lansdowne Portrait") and "Washington at Princeton."
Academy President Derek Gillman said, "This striking painting of the newly crowned king is both a great portrait and testament to a pivotal moment in American history. When visitors come and view ‘George III’ alongside Gilbert Stuart’s equally monumental ‘Lansdowne Portrait’ and Charles Willson Peale’s ‘Washington at Princeton,’ they will experience something of the personalities of these two legendary foes. They will also discover the Academy’s central role in recording America’s emergence as a nation. The Washington Foyer should be a destination for all tourists to Philadelphia."
"George III" was restored by the Academy’s chief conservator, Aella Diamantopoulos, and the result is brilliant. The image of the king is based on Ramsay’s own coronation portrait, which is still in the Royal Collection. George is dressed to the nines; he appears kingly in the way that monarchs always seem to be full of themselves.
George was married to Charlotte Mecklinburg-Strelitz, a German princess. Later in his reign, the English called him the Father of the People, but a sufficient amount of American Colonialists disagreed with the image to the extent of initiating a revolution.
Ironically, the portrait had been commissioned by the Penn family as a part of their collection of British monarchs from 1688 forward. This one, however, never made it back to the Colonies because of the political unrest. It was consigned to Stoke Park in Bucking-hamshire, England, at the Penn estate, where it stayed for more than a century until being purchased by Joseph Harrison Jr. at the family’s estate sale. He brought it to the United States and his widow, Sarah, presented it to the Academy in 1878.
It was shown at Independence Hall and the Free Library of Philadelphia. After the bicentennial, the painting was returned to storage at the Academy and hasn’t been seen since.
Ramsay (1713-1784) was considered the finest portrait painter in London until Joshua Reynolds’ rise in the mid-1750s. Ramsay was a young phenon who had studied in London, Rome and Naples and, when he set himself up in London in 1739, he brought a cosmopolitan sensibility to his work. That sophisticated look is evident in "George III," as the young king appears elegant and graceful.
Ramsay later gave up painting and followed a literary career, much like his father, the poet Allan Ramsay. He devoted himself to political pamphleteering and classical archeology and earned high praise from Dr. Samuel Johnson: "You will not find a man in whose conversation there is more instruction, more information, and more elegance," he said of the artist.
Despite George III being known to every schoolchild as America’s greatest enemy, the glorious painting not only stands as a wonder tonic for the eyes, but also represents a different view of the adversary. Even two-and-a-half centuries later, looking at enemies through enemy eyes might have benefits for all of the human species.
George III
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
118-128 N. Broad St.
Tickets: Adults, $7; age 62 and older and students with valid ID, $6; ages 5-18, $5; children under 5, free
215-972-7600
www.pafa.org
