Background
Kneller was born Gottfried Kniller on August 8, 1646 in the Free City of Lübeck, the son of Zacharias Kniller, a portrait painter.
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Godfrey Kneller
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also known as
Gottfried Kniller
Education
Kneller studied in Holland and Italy, going to England before 1675.
Career
Kneller went to Italy in 1672. His Elijah of that year gives evidence of a style close to Bol’s. In Italy he began to paint portraits and modified his style. Arriving in England in 1674 or 1675, he soon established himself as a portrait painter, especially after he painted Charles II, and he succeeded the leading portraitist of the Restoration period, Sir Peter Lely, as principal painter to the king. Kneller was knighted in 1691 and made a baronet in 1715. (Though married, he died without legitimate issue, and the baronetcy became extinct upon his death. ) Kneller’s style was broad and facile, but his characterizations could be penetrating. Among his best works are 42 portraits of members of the famous political and literary association called the Kit-Cat Club, which are now in the National Portrait Gallery, London. These were painted between about 1700 and about 1720 and are of a size (36 × 28 inches; 91 × 71 cm) that allows a half-length portrait showing one or both hands; “kitcat size” is now a generic term. He also executed a portrait series titled The Hampton Court Beauties and did portraits of British admirals. Studio assistants painted the draperies and other subsidiary elements in many of Kneller’s portraits. Before Kneller, foreign-born artists dominated English painting; after him, native English painters came to the fore and remained there. Kneller is the only painter to be commemorated at Westminster Abbey, with a large marble memorial by sculptor John M. Rysbrack.
Achievements
Connections
Kneller married a widow, Susanna Grave, on 23 January 1704 at St Bride's Church, London. She was the daughter of the Reverend John Cawley, Archdeacon of Lincoln and Rector of Henley-on-Thames, and the granddaughter of regicide William Cawley. The couple had no children.
References
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Born
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Died
January 19, 1723 (aged 76) -
Nationality
German -
Ethnicity