John Green (died September 3, 1802) was a portrait painter who later became a judge. Born in the Thirteen Colonies, he later migrated to Bermuda, where he died.
Nothing is known of Green's origins; he is first documented in Philadelphia in the late 1750s, when he sat for a portrait drawing by Benjamin West. [1] The source of his early training is unknown, though it is possible that he learned to paint miniatures in Philadelphia, as did West. In September 1774 he traveled to London for further study, and renewed his acquaintance with West at that time. He does not appear to have remained in England long, and was likely back in Bermuda within the year. [1]
Green seems to have given up painting when his wife inherited a house from her stepmother; [1] the couple called it Verdmont, as a play of words on his own name. [2] He also turned to civic life; in 1785 he was appointed collector of customs, a position formerly occupied by his father-in-law, and in 1786 he was named a judge on the Court of Vice-Admiralty, serving in that position until his death. [1] In the latter position he was responsible for the disposition of prizes of war seized by privateers, a frequent occurrence as Great Britain was at the time at war with France; many American shipowners lost vessels through his decisions. [3] [4] [5] Consequently, his tenure in this position was widely reviled in the United States, and he was frequently insulted in the mainland press; [2] [6] some of his decisions were overturned in London as well, though he was respected for his fairness by colonial governor George Beckwith. [1] During the last decade of his life he was also a member of the governor's council under William Browne. [7] Green was also a gentleman farmer at Verdmont, producing eighty bales of cotton one year there. [1]
At his death, Green left an estate valued at £286, half of which consisted of three slaves, a cow, and a horse. He and his wife left no descendants, but are honored in the parish church of Smith's Parish with a memorial erected by their nephew, Joseph Packwood. [1] Verdmont passed into the hands of another nephew, Samuel Trott. [8]
Fewer than a dozen paintings by Green survive, and most that are known are dated to between about 1775 and 1785. [1] Two are portrait miniatures, including a self-portrait, and most are of members of his family. [1] The portraits passed through the hands of descendants of Samuel Trott before being purchased by Hereward Trott Watlington, who donated them back to the Bermudian government; [8] all are currently kept at Verdmont, which is owned by the Bermuda National Trust and is open to the public. [2] [9] Green is also said to have painted a depiction of Venus Instructing Cupid while in London, but the whereabouts of this painting have been unknown since the 19th century. [7] The West drawing of Green is currently owned by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. [1]
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of the second half of the 18th century. He painted quickly, and the works of his maturity are characterised by a light palette and easy strokes. Despite being a prolific portrait painter, Gainsborough gained greater satisfaction from his landscapes. He is credited as the originator of the 18th-century British landscape school. Gainsborough was a founding member of the Royal Academy.
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Benjamin West, was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as The Death of Nelson, The Death of General Wolfe, the Treaty of Paris, and Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky.
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John Smart, was an English painter of portrait miniatures. He was a contemporary of Richard Cosway, George Engleheart, William Wood and Richard Crosse.
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A Muraqqa is an album in book form containing Islamic miniature paintings and specimens of Islamic calligraphy, normally from several different sources, and perhaps other matter. The album was popular among collectors in the Islamic world, and by the later 16th century became the predominant format for miniature painting in the Persian Safavid, Mughal and Ottoman empires, greatly affecting the direction taken by the painting traditions of the Persian miniature, Ottoman miniature and Mughal miniature. The album largely replaced the full-scale illustrated manuscript of classics of Persian poetry, which had been the typical vehicle for the finest miniature painters up to that time. The great cost and delay of commissioning a top-quality example of such a work essentially restricted them to the ruler and a handful of other great figures, who usually had to maintain a whole workshop of calligraphers, artists and other craftsmen, with a librarian to manage the whole process.
Catherine Howard, also spelled Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1542 as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn, and the niece of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Thomas Howard was a prominent politician at Henry's court, and he secured her a place in the household of Henry's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, where she caught the King's interest. She married him on 28 July 1540 at Oatlands Palace in Surrey, just 19 days after the annulment of his marriage to Anne. He was 49, and she was between 15 and 21 years old.
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