W.E. Langefeldt

Frederick William I, King of Prussia

This portrait of Frederick William I (1688 - 1740) by a miniaturist, signing "W.E. Langefeldt" ^1, still complies entirely with the type of the baroque general. His right hand on the commanding staff, his left resting on his hip, the king presents himself to the spectator from the front. He wears a breastplate, covered by a blue cloak with red lining and red cuffs, around his hip a white sash and beneath a sand-coloured coat and trousers of the same colour. His helmet lies to his right on the ground. The star of the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle is visible on his breast.

Frederick William was the only son of Frederick I, the first King of Prussia, and his wife, Sophia Charlotte of Hanover. In 1706 he himself married in Sophie Dorothea of Brunswick - Lueneburg a Guelf as well. With her he had fourteen children. amongst whom Frederick II the Great became the most famous ruler of the house of Hohenzollern.

Frederick William was crowned King of Prussia in 1713.

The miniature might have been created on the occasion of the Peace of Stockholm, which ended the Second Nordic War in 1720, resulting in Brandenburg's takeover of Swedish West Pomerania south of the river Peene and of the town of Stettin.

Frederick William's domestic policy had been determined by the realisation that Prussia due to her size and geographical location, could only prevail against the great powers with the help of a strong army. His preference for all "subjects military" - das Militärische - got him the epithet "Soldier king". In addition to the type of the Prussian officer, he established the type of the Prussian public official , a civil servant conscious of his duties but non-political.

J.S.O.

¹ The miniature in the Tansey Collection is the only known work of this artist.