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.
Sudbury Hall is a country house in Sudbury, Derbyshire, England. One of the country's finest Restoration mansions, it has Grade I listed building status, and the garden is Grade II listed in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens.
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, was an English nobleman and military officer. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of England with his mistress Lucy Walter.
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet was a German-born British painter. The leading portraitist in England during the late Stuart and early Georgian eras, he served as court painter to successive English and British monarchs, including Charles II of England and George I of Great Britain. Kneller also painted scientists such as Isaac Newton, foreign monarchs such as Louis XIV of France and visitors to England such as Michael Shen Fu-Tsung. A pioneer of the kit-cat portrait, he was also commissioned by William III of England to paint eight "Hampton Court Beauties" to match a similar series of paintings of Charles II's "Windsor Beauties" that had been painted by Kneller's predecessor as court painter, Peter Lely.
Anne Hyde was the first wife of James, Duke of York, who later became King James II and VII.
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.
Stowe House is a grade I listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of the private Stowe School and is owned by the Stowe House Preservation Trust. Over the years, it has been restored and maintained as one of the finest country houses in the UK. Stowe House is regularly open to the public.
Niccolò Cassana was an Italian painter, primarily of portraits, born in Venice, Republic of Venice and active during the late-Baroque. His older brother Giovanni Agostino Cassana was also a painter.
Charles Jervas was an Irish portrait painter, translator, and art collector of the early 18th century.
John Vanderbank was an English painter who enjoyed a high reputation during the last decade of King George I's reign and remained in high fashion in the first decade of King George II's reign. George Vertue's opinion was that only intemperance and extravagance prevented Vanderbank from being the greatest portraitist of his generation, his lifestyle bringing him into repeated financial difficulties and leading to an early death at the age of only 45.
James II and VII was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. The last Catholic monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland, his reign is now remembered primarily for conflicts over religion. However, it also involved struggles over the principles of absolutism and divine right of kings, with his deposition ending a century of political and civil strife by confirming the primacy of the English Parliament over the Crown.
Enoch Seeman the Younger was an English painter who was active during the first half of the Georgian era. He was born into a family of painters in Danzig.
John Michael Wright was an English painter, mainly of portraits in the Baroque style. Born and raised in London, Wright trained in Edinburgh under the Scots painter George Jamesone, and sometimes described himself as Scottish in documents. He acquired a considerable reputation as an artist and scholar during a long sojourn in Rome. There he was admitted to the Accademia di San Luca and was associated with some of the leading artists of his generation. He was engaged by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, the governor of the Spanish Netherlands, to acquire artworks in Oliver Cromwell's England in 1655.
John Wick was a Dutch baroque painter, best known for his works on military subjects. There are still over 150 of his works known to be in existence.
The Flagmen of Lowestoft are a collection of thirteen paintings by Sir Peter Lely, painted in the mid-1660s. They were originally part of the Royal Collections, though most were given to Greenwich Hospital in the nineteenth century, and are now in the National Maritime Museum in London. The paintings are of prominent naval officers, most of them of flag rank, who had fought at the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665. Lely at the time was Principal Painter to King Charles II.
Portrait of the Duke of Cumberland is an 1828 portrait painting by the English artist George Dawe depicting Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The younger brother of the British monarchs George IV and William IV, he became King of Hanover in 1837.
Portrait of the Duke of Clarence is a portrait painting by the Irish artist Martin Archer Shee depicting the future William IV, then Duke of Clarence.
Portrait of John Smith is a 1708 portrait painting by the German-British artist Godfrey Kneller depicting the English politician John Smith.
Portrait of James, Duke of York is a 1673 portrait painting by the French artist Henri Gascar depicting the future James II of England, then Duke of York. James is portrayed in Baroque style in Roman clothing in the style of Mars, the god of war. He stands in a pavilion with his flagship the Royal Prince in the background. The pageboy on the right was traditionally described as John Churchill, the future Duke of Marlborough, although by the time the painting was produced Churchill was an adult and serving on the continent. James was Lord High Admiral during the reign of his brother Charles and had commanded the Royal Navy at the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665 and Battle of Solebay in 1672 during the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
The Whig Junto' is a 1710 oil painting by the artist John James Baker. It features a group portrait of members of the Whig Junto, a leading group of Whig British politicians during the reign of Queen Anne. They were in power at the time they sat for Baker. The Whigs had vigorously prosecuted the War of the Spanish Succession against France, with notable victories under the command of the Duke of Marlborough. In the year of the painting, they were toppled from power by the rival Tories led by Robert Harley, who signed the Treaty of Utrecht ending the war. Only the Hanoverian Succession of 1714 led to the Whig return to power and enabled them to Impeach Harley.
