George III (1783): Art, History and Details

George III (1783) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Benjamin West (American, born The Thirteen Colonies, 1738–1820).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

King George III commissioned more than 80 paintings from West, including this portrait that celebrates his military leadership by presenting him in a suit of armor. Such an image likely was intended to bolster George III's reputation, which had been tarnished the previous year when he was forced to formally recognize American independence.

Object facts

• Title: George III
• Date: 1783
• Creator attribution: Benjamin West (American, born The Thirteen Colonies, 1738–1820)
• Culture: America
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 152 x 127 x 9.5 cm (59 13/16 x 50 x 3 3/4 in.); Unframed: 126.5 x 101 cm (49 13/16 x 39 3/4 in.)
• Collection: American - Painting
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1952.17

A detail from the museum

Over the king's shoulder is a cape trimmed with ermine, a fur associated with royalty.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence S. Robbins

Further reading listed by the museum

• "A Check List: American Paintings and Watercolors of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Early Twentieth Centuries in the Cleveland Museum of Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no.1 (January 1973).
• "The Dye is Now Cast" The Road to American Independence, 1774-1776, The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. (19 April - 16 November 1975). cat. no. 92, illus. p. 146.
• "Kende Sales." The Art Digest (October 1, 1944).

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.