Sir Godfrey Kneller
Portrait of the Countess of Dysart
circa 1698

Name: Portrait of the Countess of Dysart
Brand: Sir Godfrey Kneller
Price: 12666.95 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Portrait of Grace Wilbraham, 1655/1656-1740, later Countess of Dysart. She was married to Lionel Tollemache 3rd Earl of Dysart, the painting was probably commissioned at the point of the title being bestowed. This portrait is by Sir Godfrey Kneller and is a direct presentation of Lady Dysart in formal dress and pose, she resided at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk and the painting was found within the area where it has laid undiscovered for probably the last 200 years.

Creator:

Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646 - 1723, British)

Creation Year:

circa 1698

Dimensions:

Height: 29.25 in (74.3 cm)Width: 23.5 in (59.69 cm)

Medium:

Oil,Canvas

Period:

Late 17th Century

Condition:

Gallery Location:

East Grinstead, GB

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU2373212608062

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Sir Godfrey Kneller

Sir Godfrey Kneller was a leading English Baroque portraitist whose subjects included nobility, politicians, poets, writers and other notable figures. His figurative and portrait paintings were in great demand for more than three decades around the turn of the 18th century.

Kneller was born in Lübeck, Germany, in 1646. His father was a painter and a city surveyor, positions which gave Kneller the opportunity of a university education. He studied mathematics at Leiden University in the Netherlands before shifting to painting, studying under luminaries such as Ferdinand Bol and Rembrandt.

In 1672, Kneller moved to Italy where he spent time in Rome and Venice painting portraits for the nobility. Around 1676, he moved to England, where he opened a studio. An encounter with the Duke of Monmouth led to an introduction to King Charles II, and Kneller became a court painter, garnering a reputation for his grand style. The young painter’s portraits had a penetrating quality that evoked the subject’s presence through like-like qualities on canvas.

In 1684, Kneller traveled to France to paint Louis XIV. Following the death of Charles II, he became the court painter for James II and later worked for his successors, William and Mary. Kneller was knighted in 1692 and received an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Oxford in 1695.

Between 1700 and 1720, he painted 42 portraits of members of the Kit-Cat Club, a political and literary group. Mary II also commissioned him to paint the Hampton Court Beauties, a series of paintings featuring the most graceful ladies of the royal court.

In 1711, Kneller became the governor of the London Academy and subsequently won re-election every year until 1718. King George I made him a baronet in 1715.

Kneller died in London in 1723, with hundreds of unfinished paintings remaining in the prolific portrait master's studio.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Sir Godfrey Kneller’s paintings.