DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51519#0059
INTRODUCTION.
45
here, having’ resolved to settle at Venice; where he had already
received great encouragement. Soon after his arrival; he painted
the Duke of Monmouth for Secretary Vernon ; and the duke was
so charmed by the resemblance; that he engaged the King; his
father; to sit to the new painter. At this time Charles had pro-
mised the Duke of York his portrait by Lely; and disliking the
trouble of sitting, he proposed that both the artists should paint him
at the same time. Sir Peter was to choose the light and point of
view he thought most advantageous; the stranger was to take
the likeness as he could: he performed his task with so much
expedition; that he had nearly finished his head of the King, when
Lely had only just begun his. Charles was pleased : Lely gene-
rously owned the abilities of his competitor, and the justice of the
resemblance ; and this first success induced Kneller to settle finally
in England. After the death of Sir Peter Lely, in 1680, he
became the court and fashionable painter, and was for nearly fifty
years without a competitor; during which time, he painted all the
distinguished characters of the age, both English and foreign.
William the Third knighted him, George the First made him a
baronet, and Leopold created him a knight of the Boman Empire.
Ten sovereigns sat to him ; but we owe him a far deeper debt of
gratitude for the likenesses of Dryden, Pope, Newton, Locke,
Addison, Congreve, and Wortley Montague, which his pencil has
transmitted to us.
The well-known a Beauties” at Hampton Court, were painted
by Sir Godfrey Kneller for William the Third. As paintings, they
are decidedly inferior to the Windsor Beauties; and, with due
deference to the virtues of the ladies they represent, are, as subjects,
not to be compared in interest and beauty, to their naughty
mammas and grandmammas of Charles the Second’s time. There
is a chalkiness in the flesh, and a general rawness in the tints,
which will not bear a comparison with the delicacy of Lely’s
carnations, and the splendour of colouring in his landscapes and
draperies; and they have all a look of studied stiffness and pro-
45
here, having’ resolved to settle at Venice; where he had already
received great encouragement. Soon after his arrival; he painted
the Duke of Monmouth for Secretary Vernon ; and the duke was
so charmed by the resemblance; that he engaged the King; his
father; to sit to the new painter. At this time Charles had pro-
mised the Duke of York his portrait by Lely; and disliking the
trouble of sitting, he proposed that both the artists should paint him
at the same time. Sir Peter was to choose the light and point of
view he thought most advantageous; the stranger was to take
the likeness as he could: he performed his task with so much
expedition; that he had nearly finished his head of the King, when
Lely had only just begun his. Charles was pleased : Lely gene-
rously owned the abilities of his competitor, and the justice of the
resemblance ; and this first success induced Kneller to settle finally
in England. After the death of Sir Peter Lely, in 1680, he
became the court and fashionable painter, and was for nearly fifty
years without a competitor; during which time, he painted all the
distinguished characters of the age, both English and foreign.
William the Third knighted him, George the First made him a
baronet, and Leopold created him a knight of the Boman Empire.
Ten sovereigns sat to him ; but we owe him a far deeper debt of
gratitude for the likenesses of Dryden, Pope, Newton, Locke,
Addison, Congreve, and Wortley Montague, which his pencil has
transmitted to us.
The well-known a Beauties” at Hampton Court, were painted
by Sir Godfrey Kneller for William the Third. As paintings, they
are decidedly inferior to the Windsor Beauties; and, with due
deference to the virtues of the ladies they represent, are, as subjects,
not to be compared in interest and beauty, to their naughty
mammas and grandmammas of Charles the Second’s time. There
is a chalkiness in the flesh, and a general rawness in the tints,
which will not bear a comparison with the delicacy of Lely’s
carnations, and the splendour of colouring in his landscapes and
draperies; and they have all a look of studied stiffness and pro-