Oil on canvas, in a carved wood frame, 241.3cm by 144.8cm.
Princess Caroline, from the small German principality of Ansbach, married the future King George II (1683-1760) in 1705.
She surrounded herself with artists, writers and intellectuals and was known for her political influence, mainly through her association with Sir Robert Walpole.
She is credited with strengthening the position of the new Hanoverian dynasty in an age of great uncertainty, in which the Jacobites posed a continual threat to the throne.
Charles Jervas studied for a year as an assistant to Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723).
Despite the fact that Kneller appears not to have regarded his work very highly, Jervas found success in London as a portrait painter, succeeding Kneller as Principal Portrait Painter to George I in 1723.
He moved in intellectual circles and painted many of the literary figures of the day, including Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope.
