![[54119] Beningbrough Hall : King George l | by Budby](http://live.staticflickr.com/4375/36163091674_892d79f514.jpg)
[54119] Beningbrough Hall : King George l
Beningbrough Hall, North Yorkshire.
King George I (1660-1727), Reigned 1714-27.
By Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt (1646-1723).
Oil on canvas, 1716.
The great-grandson of James I, he became King in 1714 at the death of Queen Anne under the terms of the Act of Settlement which was designed to ensure a Protestant succession. His coronation was followed by the ill-prepared 1715 Jacobite Rising in Scotland. A distinguished soldier and Elector of Hanover from 1698, George I continued to spend much of his time at Hanover after his accession to the British throne. (The Elector was one of the princes who elected the German King who was then crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope).
The purpose of royal portraiture was not individual depiction but the representation of power. Artists conveyed this symbolically using traditional poses and symbols: crown, sceptre, orb and ermine robes of state. This repetition helped assert the continuity of the Royals. Although not great art patrons, such propaganda was important to George I and his son George II. In order to ensure a Protestant succession these Hanoverian rulers, from Germany, had come to the British throne in 1714. They faced constant challenge from the rebellious Catholic Jacobites until they were quashed in 1745.
[54119] Beningbrough Hall : King George l
Beningbrough Hall, North Yorkshire.
King George I (1660-1727), Reigned 1714-27.
By Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt (1646-1723).
Oil on canvas, 1716.
The great-grandson of James I, he became King in 1714 at the death of Queen Anne under the terms of the Act of Settlement which was designed to ensure a Protestant succession. His coronation was followed by the ill-prepared 1715 Jacobite Rising in Scotland. A distinguished soldier and Elector of Hanover from 1698, George I continued to spend much of his time at Hanover after his accession to the British throne. (The Elector was one of the princes who elected the German King who was then crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope).
The purpose of royal portraiture was not individual depiction but the representation of power. Artists conveyed this symbolically using traditional poses and symbols: crown, sceptre, orb and ermine robes of state. This repetition helped assert the continuity of the Royals. Although not great art patrons, such propaganda was important to George I and his son George II. In order to ensure a Protestant succession these Hanoverian rulers, from Germany, had come to the British throne in 1714. They faced constant challenge from the rebellious Catholic Jacobites until they were quashed in 1745.