Attributed Georg Engelhard Schroder (Swedish, 1684-1750), Portrait of Ulrika Eleanora, Queen of Sweden

Oil on canvas (lined), unsigned, presented in a giltwood frame with gallery plaque at lower center.

Stretcher size 51 x 38 in.; Frame dimensions 56 3/4 x 43 3/4 in.

From the Collection of a Gentleman, Fearrington, North Carolina

Georg Engelhard Schröder was a Swedish court painter born in Stockholm. The son of a German goldsmith from Nuremberg, he trained under the prominent portraitist David von Krafft (Swedish, 1655–1724), before embarking on extensive travels across Europe. After the death of David von Krafft in 1724, Schröder was summoned back to Sweden to assume the position of royal court portraitist. By 1727, he quickly became a favored artist of King Frederick I, receiving numerous commissions to paint both the king and Queen Ulrika Eleonora (the Younger). His 1733 portrait of the couple is housed in the National Museum of Sweden, Stockholm.

Ulrika Eleonora the Younger (1688-1741) was Queen of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and Queen Consort until her death. Born to King Charles XI and Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark, she was the sister of Charles XII. After his death in 1718, she became queen, but under a constitution that reduced royal power and initiated Sweden’s Age of Liberty. She married Frederick of Hesse-Kassel (King Frederick I) in 1715, and abdicated in his favor in 1720, becoming queen consort.

The painting has been lined, with light age cracking, scattered retouch visible under UV light.