MATTHIEU, Georg David
German Rococo portrait painter and engraver, working at the court of the Duke of Mecklenburg. He came from a family of artists, his father David was a court painter at the Prussian court.
His first commissions were for portraits of Swedish noble families in Stralsund, the capital of Swedish Pomerania. Among these portraits that of Queen Sophia of Mecklenburg (born Charlotte of Britain and Ireland), painted for Scloss Gripsholm, is noteworthy. Around 1764, he joined the services of the new Court of Duke Frederick II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at Schloss Ludwigslust. Here he produced portraits of the Duke’s family members until the end of his life.
Matthieu is considered as one of the great portrait painters of the German Rococo. His works can be found in almost all former ducal palaces in Mecklenburg, but also in the State Museum Schwerin and the Berlin museums.
