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Following the accession of George III in 1760 the choice of a bride for him fell upon Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A squadron of yachts and men-of-war under the Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Anson, was sent to Cuxhaven on the German coast to collect her. The principal yacht, the 'Royal Caroline', was renamed 'Royal Charlotte', and sumptuously fitted out for the Princess. Westerly gales blew the returning squadron over to the Norwegian coast three times, so it was ten days before it reached Harwich. Serres visited Harwich in September 1761 to record the arrival of the Princess and his picture shows this much delayed event in Harwich harbour, with sunlight breaking through the clouds onto the 'Royal Charlotte', as she passes Landguard Fort.
Serres was a well-born Frenchman from Gascony who ran away to sea in merchant service rather than follow family wish that he enter the Church. He probably arrived in England as a naval prisoner of war, took up painting and settled there. His early paintings show the influence of Brooking and Monamy's interpretations of Dutch art but he rapidly achieved recognition for his more documentary visual accounts of sea actions of the Seven Years War, 1756–1763. His work was even more in demand in the 1770s and 1780s, recording the naval history of the War of American Independence. In 1768 Serres was a founder member of the Royal Academy and at the end of his life its librarian. A well-respected and sociable man, he was appointed Marine Painter to George III in 1780.
Title
Princess Charlotte Arriving at Harwich, September 1761
Date
1763
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 81.2 x W 129.5 cm
Accession number
BHC0405
Work type
Painting
National Maritime Museum
Romney Road, Greenwich, London, Greater London SE10 9NF England
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