Stephen Slaughter (baptised 1697, died 1765) was an English portrait painter. He spent periods of his career in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, where he introduced the English style of portrait painting.

Life

He was the son of Stephen and Judith Slaughter, was baptised in London, and had the artist Judith Lewis as a sister. It has been claimed that John Lewis (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1737–1769), also an artist, was Slaughter's brother-in-law; but it is disputed whether Lewis was the husband of Judith Slaughter. Slaughter studied under Godfrey Kneller from 1712. In 1720, on the account of

Joseph Highmore Joseph Highmore (13 June 1692 – 3 March 1780) was an English painter of portraits, conversation pieces and history subjects, illustrator and author. After retiring from his career as a painter at the age of 70, he published art historica ...

, he was at the London academy of

Louis Cheron Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

and

John Vanderbank John Vanderbank (9 September 1694 – 23 December 1739)Waterhouse, Ellis. ''Painting in Britain 1530–1790'' (Penguin Books, 1957). was a leading English portrait painter who enjoyed a high reputation during the last decade of King George I ...

. There followed a long period abroad, in France and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

. Returning in 1732–33 to London, Slaughter then set up in Dublin during 1734, paying a longer visit in the 1740s. Slaughter influenced in particular

Thomas Frye Thomas Frye (c. 1710 – 3 April 1762) was an Anglo-Irish artist, best known for his portraits in oil and pastel, including some miniatures and his early mezzotint engravings. He was also the patentee of the Bow porcelain factory, London, ...

, as did James Latham. In 1745 Slaughter became

Surveyor of the King's Pictures The office of the Surveyor of the King's/Queen's Pictures, in the Royal Collection Department of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, is responsible for the care and maintenance of the royal collection of pictures owned b ...

, in succession to Peter Walton. From 1748 he spent time on picture restoration. On 14 July 1765, two months after his death, he was elected to the Accademia del Disegno, with William Oram.

Portraits

Portrait of Major General Richard St George by Stephen Slaughter (London 1697-1765)

*1736

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*1737

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*1737 Lady Georgiana Spencer, wife of the Hon. John Spencer *1742

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*1744

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*1744

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*1744 John Hoadly *1753

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* Nathaniel Kane

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter, Stephen Year of birth missing 1765 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters English portrait painters 18th-century English male artists