Portal:Opera/Selected picture/50
In this 1771 painting by Alexander Roslin, King Gustav III of Sweden and his Brothers, King Gustav is shown seated left with his brother Frederick standing and his brother Charles seated right. Gustav, an enlightened ruler and patron of the arts, was assassinated in 1792 at a masked ball held in Sweden's Royal Opera House. The episode is the central theme of Daniel Auber's opera Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué and Verdi's opera Un ballo in maschera.