This painting of Frederick II was sent to his sister, Lovisa Ulrika, along with other family portraits. Most of them were by the Frenchman Antoine Pesne, painter to the Prussian court since 1711. The king is wearing armour, and in the background a battlefield can be seen. Similar images were only painted during his early years on the throne, soon to be replaced by simpler renderings. Like the portrait of his brother- in-law, Adolf Frederick, this painting has a richly carved original frame.