James Vernon (1667-1756) as a boy

Location

Country: Germany
City: Berlin
Place: British Embassy

Godfrey Kneller was born in Lübeck, Germany. He moved to Amsterdam in 1662 to study painting under Rembrandt and Ferdinand Bol. He later trained with Gianlorenzo Bernini and Carlo Maratta in Rome. He returned to Lübeck in 1675, before moving to Hamburg and then to London to study the works of van Dyck. In England he received commissions from prominent figures, including Charles II. Charles sent Kneller to France in 1684, to paint the portrait of Louis XIV. Kneller maintained his position at court after the accession of James II in 1685 and, when William and Mary came to the throne, he and portraitist John Riley became joint Principal Painters to the Crown. Following Riley’s death, Kneller alone retained the position. He was 77 when he died.

People

James Vernon (c.1680 - 1756)

Places

Subjects

male portrait, boy, 18th century costume, shirt, shoe, child, Clerk of the Council in Ordinary, diplomat, Commissioner of Excise

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646 - 1723)

Title

James Vernon (1667-1756) as a boy

Date

c.1690-1697

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 185.00 cm, width: 120.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Agnew's, March 1953

Inscription

verso, on old lining (now removed and preserved): No 6 / This Portrait of Mr. IAs VERNON at the / age of XIV, was painted by Sir G. KNELLER / as an acknowledgement of the obligation he owed to / Mr Secretary VERNON his father for having / introduced him to the Duke of Monmouth, by which / means he obtained the Patronage of K. Charles / the IId which had ...the foundation of that considerable / Fortune, he afterwards made. / DASHWOOD HEIRLOOM NO 1

Provenance

Painted for government official and politician James Vernon (c.1646-1727, father of the sitter); by descent to Charles Anthony Dashwood (as part of the Vernon Estate), 1860; possibly sold through Sotheby's, London, Dashwood Heirlooms (Mrs J. H. Wilson) sale, on 27 July 1938; with Agnew’s Gallery, London; from whom purchased in March 1953

GAC number

2094