Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading
portrait painter
Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
and
British monarchs from
Charles II to
George I. His major works include ''
The Chinese Convert'' (1687; Royal Collection, London); a series of four portraits of
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, Theology, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosophy, natural philosopher"), widely ...
painted at various junctures of the latter's life; a series of ten reigning European monarchs, including King
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of ...
; over 40 "
kit-cat portraits" of members of the
Kit-Cat Club; and ten "
beauties" of the court of
William III, to match a similar series of ten of Charles II's
mistresses painted by Kneller's predecessor as court painter,
Sir Peter Lely.
Early life
Kneller was born Gottfried Kniller in the
Free City of Lübeck, the son of Zacharias Kniller, a portrait painter.
Cokayne, George Edward
George Edward Cokayne, (29 April 1825 – 6 August 1911), was an English genealogist and long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London, who eventually rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms. He wrote such authoritative and standar ...
(1906)
Complete Baronetage
'. Volume V. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co. . pp. 27–28 Kneller studied in
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...
, but became a pupil of
Ferdinand Bol and
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
. He then travelled with his brother
John Zacharias Kneller, who was an ornamental painter, to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
in the early 1670s, painting historical subjects and portraits in the studio of
Carlo Maratti
Carlo Maratta or Maratti (13 May 162515 December 1713) was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition ...
, and later moved to
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
.
Career
The brothers came to England in 1676, and won the patronage of the
Duke of Monmouth. He was introduced to, and painted a portrait of,
Charles II. In England, Kneller concentrated almost entirely on portraiture. In the spirit of enterprise, he founded a studio which churned out portraits on an almost industrial scale, relying on a brief sketch of the face with details added to a formulaic model, aided by the fashion for gentlemen to wear full
wigs. His portraits set a pattern that was followed until
William Hogarth and
Joshua Reynolds.
Nevertheless, he established himself as a leading portrait artist in England. When
Sir Peter Lely died in 1680, Kneller was appointed
Principal Painter in Ordinary to the Crown by Charles II.
For about 20 years (c.1682–1702) he lived at No. 16-17 The Great Piazza,
Covent Garden. In the 1690s, Kneller painted the
Hampton Court Beauties
The Hampton Court Beauties are a series of eight portraits by Sir Godfrey Kneller, commissioned by Queen Mary II of England, depicting the most glamorous ladies from the court of William III. They adorn the state rooms of King William III at Ham ...
depicting the most glamorous ladies-in-waiting of the Royal Court for which he received his
knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...
from
William III. He produced a series of "
Kit-cat" portraits of 48 leading politicians and men of letters, members of the
Kit-Cat Club. Created a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...
by King
George I on 24 May 1715,
he was also head of the ''Kneller Academy of Painting and Drawing'' from 1711 until 1716 in
Great Queen Street,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, which counted such artists as
Thomas Gibson amongst its founding directors. His paintings were praised by
Whig members including
John Dryden
''
John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate.
He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the p ...
,
Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richar ...
,
Richard Steele
Sir Richard Steele (bap. 12 March 1672 – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine ''The Spectator''.
Early life
Steele was born in D ...
, and
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
.
On the landing in
Horsham Museum in
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...
hang works of art from the Museum's extensive painting collection, featuring a large 18th-century portrait of
Charles Eversfield and his wife, of Denne Park House. In the painting Eversfield is giving his wife some violets which signifies fidelity, love and honesty. It is likely that the picture was cut down at some time as it was unusual to stop just below the knee. It may have been painted by more than one person: someone who specialised in clothing, another in drapes, and so on, with perhaps Kneller painting the heads, for it was the portraits that gave the sitters their identity; everything else is rather formulaic.
Personal life
He married a widow, Susanna Grave, on 23 January 1704 at
St Bride's Church, London.
She was the daughter of the Reverend
John Cawley,
Archdeacon of Lincoln
The Archdeacon of Lincoln is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Lincoln – he or she has responsibilities within his archdeaconry (the ancient Archdeaconry of Lincoln) including oversight of church buildings and some supervision, d ...
and Rector of
Henley-on-Thames, and the granddaughter of
regicide William Cawley
William Cawley (1602 – January 1667) was a regicide and seventeenth century English politician. He was born in Chichester in 1602, the son of John Cawley, a wealthy brewer, and was educated at Chichester Grammar School, Oxford University an ...
.
The couple had no children.
Death
Kneller died of fever in 1723 at Great Queen Street and his remains were interred at
Twickenham. He had been a
churchwarden at
St Mary's, Twickenham
St Mary's Church, Twickenham, also known as St Mary the Virgin, Twickenham, is a Grade II* listed Church of England place of worship dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin. It is on Church Street, Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond up ...
, when the 14th-century
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...
collapsed in 1713 and was active in the plans for the church's reconstruction by
John James.
His widow was buried at Twickenham on 11 December 1729.
Legacy
A memorial was erected in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.
Kneller's will gave a pension of £100 a year to his assistant
Edward Byng
Edward Byng (''ca.'' 1676 – 1753), sometimes spelt Bing, was an English portrait artist.
Thought to be a native of Wiltshire, Byng trained as an artist and became an assistant to Godfrey Kneller about 1693. Another pupil of Kneller, Robert B ...
and entrusted Byng with seeing that all unfinished work was completed. Byng also inherited the drawings in Kneller's studio. Kneller and his wife had no children together.
Most of his fortune was inherited by his grandson, Godfrey Kneller Huckle, who was the son of Agnes Huckle,
Kneller's illegitimate daughter by Mrs Voss, and who took his grandfather's surname (Kneller)
Deed Poll Office: Private Act of Parliament 1730 (4 Geo. 2). c. 32
/ref> as a condition of his inheritance.
The site of the house Kneller built in 1709 in Whitton, near Twickenham, became occupied by the mid-19th century Kneller Hall, home of the Royal Military School of Music.
Character
Works
In his hometown Lübeck there are works to be seen in the St. Annen Museum and in Saint Catherine Church. His former works at St. Mary's Church were destroyed by the Bombing of Lübeck 1942. A large oil portrait (84" x 55") of James VII of Scotland (King James II of England) hangs on the main staircase of private members' Club, The Caledonian Club, in Belgravia, London.
A portrait of Queen Anne that belongs to Trinity Hospital in Retford, Nottinghamshire has been attributed to Kneller by the auctioneers Phillips – though it is unsigned. The hospital has a strong connection with Queen Anne, the founder being a first cousin of her grandmother. The portrait was restored and cleaned in 1999.
See also
* English school of painting
* Kneller Hall
References
Notes
Sources
*