Many of Antoine Pesne's portraits of the…

Many of Antoine Pesne's portraits of the Prussian royal family and their household hang today in Berlin Museums and in Charlottenburg Palace.

These include (among others) his portraits of the first two kings of Prussia, Frederich I and Frederick William I, and members of the latter's family.

In St. Agnus Church in Köthen, where J. S. Bach was music director (Kapellmeister), there is a huge portrait of the donor Gisela Agnes, Princess of Anhalt-Köthen, painted by Pesne in 1713.

The ceiling paintings in Charlottenburg, Rheinsberg, and Sanssouci Palaces are at least partially his work.

Pesne, born in Paris, had first studied art under his father and uncle, and had received a stipend for advanced training from 1704 to 1710 at the Académie Royale in Italy.

He was called to Berlin by King Frederick I of Prussia in 1710 

As the director of the Berlin Academy of the Arts from 1722, Pesne has become famous through his portraiture.