Prince George of Denmark as Lord High Admiral

In 1703, Queen Anne commissioned Antonio Verrio to paint one of the most important unfinished rooms at Hampton Court Palace: the Queen's Drawing Room. The Queen's Apartments had been left unfinished and unfurnished after the death of Mary II in 1694; Anne intended them to be used by her consort, Prince George of Denmark, and the Drawing Room, centrally positioned on the East Front overlooking the formal gardens, was intended as its decorative focus. Verrio's work at Hampton Court represents his last major commission before his death in 1707, and the Queen's Drawing Room was his last completed mural scheme. The separate scenes on the ceiling and three walls are painted in the fashionable illusionistic style of the Baroque age, with the room transformed into a marble hall, open to the sky; they recognise Britain's emerging dominance over land and sea, a process catalysed during the time it took Verrio to paint the room, with the 1704 military victories at Blenheim and Gibraltar.

The central scene on the north wall, painted as if it was a tapestry, complete with an illusionistic floral border with gold fringes, shows Prince George as Lord High Admiral, with ducal coronet and symbolic anchor in front of the British fleet. This is a formal portrait in armour almost identical in pose and likeness to Godfrey Kneller's full-length official portrait, but here surrounded by sea deities, nereids and tritons.

The smaller monochrome design above the door on the right of the wall shows the mythological tale of The Judgment of Midas, and the musical contest between Pan and Apollo. Midas chose Pan as the superior musician, but Apollo punished him for his poor judgment by giving him the ears of an ass.