Antoine Pesne was a French-born Rococo painter of historical subjects and portraits. His finest works exhibit masterly brushwork and brilliant colouring, accompanied by a perceptive characterization of his sitters. From the 1740s onwards Pesne was in the service of Frederick II of Prussia (‘the Great’) a renowned  patron of the arts, producing decorative schemes for Schloss Charlottenborg and Sansouci. In 1748 Frederick sent a portrait of himself by Pesne to his first cousin, Frederick. Prince of Wales (RCIN 406797).

John Adolphus II was the last duke of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt, a member of the House of Wettin and a Commander in the Saxon Army. In 1734 he married Fredericka of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1715-1775), the older sister of Augusta, Princess of Wales; two years later he inherited lands on the death of his older brother. A pendant portrait of Fredericka is in the Royal Collection (RCIN 405657).

Depicted as a military man, he is wearing a breastplate over a red military jacket, a sash with the Order of the White Eagle of Poland, his left hand pointing to a distant battle.