Portrait of George I

Engraver John Smith British

Publisher John Smith British

1715

Not on view

The engraved bust-length portrait is based on a full-length painting by Kneller that hangs in the Library at Houghton Hall. In the painting, the sitter wears his coronation robes and royal regalia including the collar of the Order of the Garter.

George I came to the throne after the death of Queen Anne in 1714, his claim supported by the Act of Settlement of 1701 which stipulated that only Protestants could inherit. As Lord of the Treastury, Sir Robert Walpole was the king's chief minister and helped steer the Hanoverian succession through numerous crises, including Jacobite attempts to regain the throne for Stuart heirs.
When he placed the king's portrait in his library at Houghton, Walpole affirmed that his service to George I and George II were foundational to his own career.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Catalogue Raisonné

References

Title: Portrait of George I
Artist: After Sir Godfrey Kneller (German, Lübeck 1646–1723 London)
Engraver: John Smith (British, Daventry 1652–1743 Northampton)
Publisher: John Smith (British, Daventry 1652–1743 Northampton)
Date: 1715
Medium: Mezzotint; second state
Dimensions: sheet: 13 3/4 x 9 15/16 in. (35 x 25.2 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925
Object Number: 25.62.32r(a)
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Aedes Walpolianae, or a Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, the Seat of the Right Honorable Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford (Interleaved with Drawings by Isaac Ware for: The Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Chimney Pieces, and Celings of Houghton Hall in Norfolk...1735) ["The Walpole Album"], Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford British, Etching, engraving, pen and ink, brush and wash, watercolor — Aedes Walpolianae, or a Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, the Seat of the Right Honorable Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford (Interleaved with Drawings by Isaac Ware for: The Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Chimney Pieces, and Celings of Houghton Hall in Norfolk...1735) ["The Walpole Album"]
Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford
1550–early 20th century

Grinling Gibbons, Sir Godfrey Kneller German, Mezzotint — Grinling Gibbons
Multiple artists/makers
1690

Portrait of a Woman, Called Maria Taylor Byrd, Sir Godfrey Kneller German, Oil on canvas, American — Portrait of a Woman, Called Maria Taylor Byrd
Sir Godfrey Kneller
1700–1725

Johannes Locke

Multiple artists/makers

1721

Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726), Duke of St. Albans, Sir Godfrey Kneller German, Oil on canvas — Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726), Duke of St. Albans
Sir Godfrey Kneller
ca. 1690–95

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