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Anthony Schoonjans
Sir Richard Steele, playwright, writer & founder Tatler & The Spectator Magazine
c.1704

About the Item

Portrait of Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729) By Anthony Schoonjans (1655-1726) Oil on canvas c.1704 Framed 32" x 31" This is an extremely rare portrait of the bon viveur, Sir Richard Steele painted by Flemish court painter Anthony Schoonjans during his visit to London in 1704 for a commission to paint Montagu House, which later became The British Museum. Schoonjans was a darling of the Baroque courts due to his highly skilled classically trained style. His portraits evoked a depth of personality in his sitters as well as a sense of gravitas appropriate to their station. Schoonjans work was highly coveted in courtly circles. He travelled all over Europe to paint palaces and royal portraits for Emperor Leopold I, Queen Sophie Charlotte of Prussia and Johann Willhelm, Elector Palatine. Sir Richard Steele, Irish playwright, writer, politician and co-founder with Joseph Addison of Tatler Magazine 1709, The Spectator 1711 and The Guardian in 1713. He was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1672 to Richard Steele, attorney and Elinor Symes. He was largely raised by his uncle and aunt, Henry Gascoigne and Lady Katherine Mildmay. As a member of the Protestant gentry, he was educated at Charterhouse School, where he first met Joseph Addison. Steele studied at Christ Church, Oxford and then Merton College, after which he joined the Life Guards of the Household Cavalry to support King William’s wars against France. He was commissioned in 1697 and rose to the rank of Captain within two years but lacked the money and connections necessary for substantial advancement so embarked on a second career in writing after gravely injuring a fellow officer in a duel in 1700. Steele published a moralistic tract ‘A Christian Hero’ in 1701 criticising the ‘irregularity’ of army life and his own dissipated existence but ridiculed for hypocrisy due to the stark contrast between his austere precepts and his genially convivial practice. In the same year, 1701, Steele wrote his first comedy, ‘The Funeral’ that was performed at Dury Lane with “more than expected success”. It was this play that helped bring him to the notice of King William and the Whig leaders. Steele continued to live in Bloomsbury Square during Anthony Schoonjans’ stay in London in 1704. Schoonjans was commissioned to paint Montagu House, Bloomsbury (later became part of the British Museum) and a few portraits. Steele’s third play, ‘The Tender Husband’, 1705 had some success with help from Joseph Addison, a fellow member of the Kit Kat Club but continued to search for financial advancement until his marriage to Margaret Stretch (a wealthy widow), who conveniently died a year later in 1706, leaving Steele with a substantial income. Steele married again less than a year later, Mary Scurlock whom he completely adored according to his numerous letters that provide a vivid revelation of his personality during the 11 years of their marriage. Mary bore four children but only the eldest Elizabeth survived Steele before she died during pregnancy in 1718. Steele’s secured his place in literary history in 1709 by launching the then thrice-weekly essay, periodical ‘The Tatler’, writing under the pseudonym (already made famous by the satirist Jonathan Swift) of Isaac Bickerstaff. Together with Joseph Addison he created a mixture of entertainment and instruction in manners and morals that was later to be perfected in ‘The Spectator in 1711. Steele continued to contribute hundreds of articles for other periodicals including ‘The Reader’, ‘Town-Talk’, and ‘The Plebeian’ and became chief journalist of the Whigs in opposition (1710-14) before publishing his last extended work, ‘The Theatre’, a biweekly periodical. Steele’s health was gradually undermined by his cheerful intemperance and he was long plagued by gout. In 1724 he retired to his wife’s estate in Wales and began to settle his debts before his death in 1729. Anthony Schoonjans (1655-1726), nicknamed Parhasius, was a Flemish painter known for his portraits as well as his history paintings. After training in Antwerp he had an international career that saw him work throughout Europe including France, Italy, Germany, Austria, The Dutch Republic, Denmark and England. He was a court painter in Vienna, Copenhagen, Berlin and Dusseldorf. Born in Ninove to Joannes Schoonjans, a wine merchant, he became an apprentice of Erasmus Quellinus II and subsequently for his son Jan-Erasmus in the Antwerp Guild in 1668-9. From 1674-1677 Schoonjans resided in Reims, frequently visiting Paris. He then went to Rome in 1675 for a residence with flower painter Carel de Vogalaer. Like many masters before him, Schoonjans joined ‘Bentvueghels’, the society of mainly Flemish and Dutch artists working in Rome, where he took the nickname ‘Parhasius’ (likely after the famous painter of the late 5th Century BC who worked in Athens). In 1693 Schoonjans moved to Vienna where he became the court painter to Emperor Leopold I in 1695. After travelling to Frankfurt, Kassel and Hamburg with Jans Frans van Douven, Schoonjans was invited by the Danish court to paint portraits of the royal family. He later returned to Vienna where in 1697 he married the opera singer Franziska Maria Regina Schwyzer and painted an altarpiece of the ‘Martyrdom of St Sebastian’ for the St Roch’s Church and a ‘Visitation of Mary’ for the St Stephen’s Cathedral. In 1702 Schoonjans and his wife travelled to Berlin at the invitation of Queen Sophie of Prussia to paint the ceiling and galleries of Charlottenburg Palace, her residence in Berlin, as well as portraits of her son and the composers Giovanni Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti. He then went to The Hague and on to Amsterdam and in 1704 Schoonjans travelled to England where he painted the stairwell in Montagu House, Bloomsbury and was reported to have painted a few portraits whilst in Bloomsbury, including that of a doctor Peeters and this rare portrait of Sir Richard Steele. From England Schoonjans moved to Dusseldorf to serve as a court painter to Johann Willhelm, Elector Palantine. Palantine was a renowned art lover and invited many Dutch and Flemish painters to his court. Whilst resident Schoonjans painted a portrait of the monarch and his wife and created a number of drawings, many of which are still in the Museum Kunstpalast. After the Johann Willhelm’s death in 1716, Schoonjans returned to Vienna, thereafter travelling only for short periods for further commissions including the Krizanke Church in Slovenia with Johann Michael Rottmayr and to the Czech Repubic in 1726 to paint a ‘St John of Nepomuk’, before spending his final years in Perchtoldsdorf and his eventual death in 1726 reportedly in a fire in his house.

Creator:
Anthony Schoonjans (1655 - 1726)
Creation Year:
c.1704
Dimensions:
Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 31 in (78.74 cm)
Medium:
Oil
Movement & Style:
Baroque
Period:
Early 18th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU67333942482

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Sir Richard Steele, playwright, writer & founder Tatler & The Spectator Magazine

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