Portrait of George Albert Cirksena, Fourth Prince of East Frisia (1690–1734), signed and dated at lower left: Johann Conrad Eichler 1718, oil on canvas, 97.8 x 76.2 cm, framed

Although still lifes by Johann Conrad Eichler are known, he is mostly considered as a portraitist. Having completed his education in Rome, he entered into the service of Duke August William of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. For his portraits, Eichler borrowed from Francesco Trevisani and Carlo Maratta, proof of which is supplied by the Portrait of Duke Louis Rudolph in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum in Braunschweig.

George Albert, a member of the Cirksena family, was the second to last Prince of East Frisia. The dynasty and thus the sovereignty of East Frisia ended with the death of his son in 1744, when the country became a Prussian province. Prince George Albert’s reign coincided with a politically and economically difficult period that was marked by conflicts with the “unruly” estates. In order to control the alcoholism that plagued his land, the prince prohibited a popular game of ball shooting, the so-called “Boßel” tournaments, in 1731. He sharply denounced them because of the “upheaval, carousing, gluttony, horrible cursing, heavy fights and injuries” they involved. Prince George Albert married Margravine Sophie Caroline of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.