Carl Oesterley (1805-1891) studied archaeology, philosophy and history at the University of Göttingen, where in 1824 he earned his doctorate in art history. Later he studied drawing in Dresden, as a student of Johann Gottlob Matthäi. In 1831 he became a professor of art history at Göttingen, where he collaborated with Karl Otfried Müller on a treatise entitled Monuments of Ancient Art. In this period he also furthered his artistic studies in Düsseldorf, from 1835 to 1838, under Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow, in Munich and in Paris. In 1844 he was appointed court painter to King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover.

George V, King of Hanover, and 2nd Duke of Cumberland (1819-1878), was the only son of Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, and Frederica, daughter of Charles, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Here he is shown standing, full length, facing the spectator, with his head turned half to the left. He wears a white Hanoverian military uniform, deocrated with the riband and star of the Order of the Garter; on the right, a crimson mantle lined with ermine; through an archway behind on the left is a view of Hanover, with the Waterloo Column in the distance. In 1843 he married Marie, the eldest daughter of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and they had a son and two daughters. He succeeded his father as King of Hanover but was deposed after the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and died in Paris in 1878. He was buried, as a Prince of Great Britain, in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.