Godfrey Kneller (1646 - 1723) Portrait of a Lady, said to ...

Hammer

€14,000

Godfrey Kneller (1646 - 1723)

Portrait of a Lady, said to be Agnes Huckle, standing by a Classical Urn   O.O.C, 239cms x 147cms (84" x 58”)
Signed and dated.

Provenance: The Chamberlain family, Abbeycwmhir Hall, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, Wales.
This full-length portrait depicts a young woman, said to be Catherine (also known as Agnes) Huckle, the natural daughter of the artist. Probably in her teens, Agnes is shown wearing a white satin dress and standing on a balcony. Her hair is tied back, allowing the painter to depict face and neck, emphasising the red lips and slight blush on her cheeks. The girl’s hand rests on a pedestal, on which stands a classical urn containing a bouquet of flowers. Beyond is a wooded landscape, with a sunset. Her blue satin wrap is held with a string of pearls, worn casually over the shoulder. Although Kneller was married to Susanna Grave, the marriage was childless, and he had a mistress named Voss (or Vos), who, according to one account, ran a coffee house in St. James’s Market. She and Kneller had a daughter, Catherine (also known as Agnes), who was born around 1690. Agnes was the model for several paintings by Kneller, including St. Agnes and Mary Magdalene. She later married James Huckle and had a son named Godfrey, who changed his name to Kneller and became the artist’s heir.  Born in Lubeck, Germany, the son of a surveyor, Godfrey Kneller attended the University of Leiden where he studied mathematics. An interest in art led him to move to Amsterdam, where he was apprenticed to Rembrandt. His early works, such as Isaac blessing Jacob, reveal the influence of Rembrandt and Ferdinand Bol. Painted in 1672, his Elijah and the Angel is in the Tate collection. That same year, Kneller, along with his brother, went to Rome to study with Bernini and Carlo Maratta, and copy works by Raphael. They returned to Lubeck in 1675, before travelling to England, where they were keen to see works by Anthony Van Dyck. In London, Kneller, competed with, and imitated, the leading portraitist Peter Lely. Building up his reputation and studio, he painted portraits of King Charles II, the Duke of Monmouth and other leading members of society, including James Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, and Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort. Two years after Lely’s death in 1680, the Kneller brothers moved to the Piazza, Covent Garden, where Lely had lived. In 1684, Godfrey, by now the leading portrait painter in England, went to France to paint Louis XIV.
During the reign of William and Mary, he was appointed court painter, and painted equestrian portraits of the Duke of Schomberg and William III. In 1700 he was made a Knight of the Holy Roman Empire. For Queen Mary, he painted a series of portraits known as the ‘Hampton Court Beauties’. He also painted a series of admirals. Kneller maintained a large studio, with assistants, and had many sitters per day. He is famous for his ‘kit-cat’ portraits, measuring 36 x 28 inches and named after a Whig dining club. In the early eighteenth century, his style became more classical. With the accession of George I in 1714, Kneller was named principal painter and created a baronet. He died in 1723.

Dr. Peter Murray, 2023

More Information

Additional images attached.