Robert Byng (1666–1720) was an English portrait painter. He was born in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, the son of Thomas Byng (or Binge) and his wife Anne. His younger brother

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 ...

(c.1676-1753) was a

drapery painter A drapery painter refers to a specialist painter commissioned to complete the dress, costumes and other accessories worn by the subjects of portrait paintings. They were employed by portrait painters with a large workshop in 18th century England.

who was the principal assistant to

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to Kingdom of England, English and Br ...

. Robert Byng's works show the influence of Kneller, and many of his drawings in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

are studies of portraits by Kneller, which suggests he may have been a pupil of that artist. He died at Oxford in 1720. The Philip Mould gallery in London states: ''"Too little is known of Byng's work as studio assistant to Sir Godfrey Kneller in his last years, and too much indifferent work is attributed to him on the basis purely of convenience"''.

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1720 deaths 1666 births {{England-painter-17thC-stub