Oil on Canvas Portrait of George IV, Prince of Wales - After Sir William Beechey RA

George IV, Prince of Wales Late 18th/Early 19th Century After Sir William Beechey RA This is a fine and very large scale oil painting on canvas of the Prince of Wales, later George IV of England. Sir William Beechey painted his portrait of The Prince of Wales as his diploma work for the Royal Academy. It was accepted in 1798 and remains part of their collection. The Prince is featured wearing a uniform of the Tenth Light Dragoons, with the star of the Order of the Garter. Other versions of the portrait are known to have been painted at the time - The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (The Met) has one, and The Royal Collection in London has a later version, painted at the Princes request by Beechey in 1803. This current version does not have a traceable provenance so is being sold as a copy although I continue to research its possible origins Comparisons:- The facial likenesses of 3 versions of this painting make for an interesting comparison. See photo. The Princes likeness in this present version looks to be more youthful than that exhibited by Beechey for The Royal Academy in 1798. Might this have been painted by Beechey, in preparation for the version exhibited at The Royal Academy? We probably will never know for sure. The 1803 painting in the Royal Collection clearly shows an older, more mature likeness of the Prince.