Visit of George III to Howe's Flagship the Queen Charlotte

Visit of George III to Howe's Flagship the Queen Charlotte is an oil on canvas history painting by the English artist Henry Perronet Briggs, from 1828. It is held at the National Maritime Museum, in London.

Visit of George III to Howe's Flagship the Queen Charlotte
Artist	Henry Perronet Briggs
Year	1828
Type	Oil on canvas, history painting
Dimensions	162.5 cm × 255.5 cm (64.0 in × 100.6 in)
Location	National Maritime Museum, London

History and description

It depicts an event that took place on 26 June 1794 when George III, his wife Queen Charlotte and leading members of the government visited the Royal Navy warship HMS Queen Charlotte at Portsmouth.^[1] A few weeks earlier Queen Charlotte had been the flagship of Admiral Richard Howe during the Glorious First of June, a British victory over the navy of Revolutionary France.^[2] The ship, launched in 1790, was named after the Queen.

The king, with his wife beside him, is shown presenting a ceremonial sword to Howe. Other members of the royal family are also visible, while behind Howe stands his subordinates, Alexander Hood, Alan Gardner and Roger Curtis. On the far left of the painting, under the royal coat of arms, is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom William Pitt the Younger. It was one of four naval paintings commissioned by the British Institution to encourage the creation of history scenes and was displayed at the Institution before moving to Greenwich Hospital. Today it is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, in Greenwich.^[3]

See also

• Lord Howe on the Deck of the Queen Charlotte, a 1794 painting of the battle by Mather Brown