Anthoni Schoojans, zugeschrieben Lot n° 45

Anthoni Schoojans, attributed to Portrait of Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia (1688 - 1740) Oil on canvas (relined). 79 x 60 (oval). Framed in gilt wooden frame (103 x 87 cm). Provenance Galerie Almas, Munich. Acquired there in 1982 and since then in private ownership in Hesse. Friedrich Wilhelm was born the son of the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich III and the Hanoverian Princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg Sophie Charlotte on August 14, 1688 in the palace in Berlin-Dölln and was baptized after eight days in the cathedral church there in his grandfather's name. Frederick William was the longed-for heir to the throne after his elder brother, Elector Prince Frederick Augustus, died in 1686. In contrast to his father, the child had a strong constitution. Shortly after his birth, there were already tensions between the Elector and his wife regarding the principles of his upbringing. In the early years of his life, from 1689 to 1692, Frederick William was brought up at his grandmother's court in Hanover. Even as a child, he was conspicuous for his headstrong, impulsive nature and also displayed very unruly behavior. In 1704, the sixteen-year-old crown prince was declared of age. In the same year, he had his Wusterhausen Palace extended and moved into it every year from the end of August to the beginning of November as his court residence. Within ten years, he turned the neglected Wusterhausen estate into a self-sustaining model business. He regarded the small town of Wusterhausen as a miniature state. Here he practiced on a small scale what he later did on a large scale. His way of governing, administering and commanding was shaped here. While there can be no doubt as to the identity of the person depicted here, the identity of the painter cannot be proven. Anthoni Schoojans, to whom the portrait is attributed according to tradition, stayed in Berlin between 1702 and 1704, where he painted various portraits for the court and helped to decorate Charlottenburg Palace. At this time, the crown prince was between 14 and 16 years old, which corresponds to the prince depicted here.