Portrait of Charles Frederick

Portrait of Charles Frederick
Artist	Andrea Casali
Year	1738
Type	Oil on canvas, portrait painting
Dimensions	133.5 cm × 96.5 cm (52.6 in × 38.0 in)
Location	Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Portrait of Charles Frederick is a 1738 portrait painting by the Italian artist Andrea Casali. It depicts the British politician Charles Frederick. Painted in Rome, it is a significant early example of the Grand Tour portrait style that became an established tradition for British visitors in Italy during the eighteenth century. He is shown seated at a table in a curtained loggia with the Pantheon in the background, and has the composition of what would become the standard Neoclassical portrait. He is shown seated at a table Stylistically it provides a bridge between Francesco Trevisani and Pompeo Batoni.^[1]

Frederick was a noted antiquarian, who travelled to Italy with his brother in 1737-38.^[2] He became a significant patron to Casali when he relocated to England in 1741. Today the painting is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, having been acquired in 1980.^[3]

References

1. Redford p 85
2. Black p.195
3. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-charles-frederick-141807

Bibliography

• Black, Jeremy. Italy and the Grand Tour. Yale University Press, 2003.
• Redford, Bruce. Venice and the Grand Tour. Yale University Press, 1996.