George II, King of England (1683–1760),

It was under the reign of George II that the charter of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) was granted. In January 1761, a life size portrait of the King was delivered to Princeton from Great Britain and hung in what is now the Faculty Room in Nassau Hall. The College President at the time, Samuel Davies, preached a funeral sermon on the King who had recently died. Sixteen years later, during the Battle of Princeton when Nassau Hall was bombarded by the American troops, a cannon ball came through a window and destroyed the portrait.

The portrait of George II seen here was presented to the University in 1936 by four alumni believing it be by the same artist who painted the earlier portrait, Charles Jarvis, court painter to George II. More recently, research has uncovered that this portrait is after Sir Godfrey Kneller’s (British, 1646-1723) portrait of George II when Prince of Wales that resides in the Royal Collection, London. In Princeton’s portrait, George the II is presented as King with royal orb and scepter. The identity of the copyist, who was probably a contemporary of Jarvis, has not yet been established.