The German artist Johan Zoffany arrived in London in 1760 and soon established a reputation for informal conversation pieces in which accurate and lively portraits were set in surroundings showing the sitters’ taste and circumstances. John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, commissioned portraits of his children from Zoffany c.1763-4 and probably introduced the artist to the King and Queen. The King nominated Zoffany to the new Royal Academy in 1769. He remained in favour for a further ten years, but after the unfavourable reception of The Tribuna was supplanted by other, younger artists. This portrait is a copy the head and shoulders of one of his 1771 portraits of the royal couple (OM 1195-6, 405071-2). The Queen is shown in the clothes and posture from the original portrait (OM 1196), wearing pale blue dress with bows on bodice and a black shawl; her hair is powdered and with a rope of pearls; she also wears pearl earrings and choker.