The House of Gonzaga is an Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708. They also ruled Monferrato in Piedmont and Nevers in France, as well as many other lesser fiefs throughout Europe. The family includes a saint, twelve cardinals and fourteen bishops. Two Gonzaga descendants became empresses of the Holy Roman Empire, and one became queen of Poland.
William John Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland, styled Lord John Bentinck before 1824 and Marquess of Titchfield between 1824 and 1854, was a British Army officer and peer, most remembered for his eccentric behaviour. A recluse who preferred to live in seclusion, he had an elaborate underground maze excavated under his estate at Welbeck Abbey near Clumber Park in North Nottinghamshire.
Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, firstly in 1633 and secondly in 1689. What proved to be a long co-held title, Duke of Portland, was created in 1716 and became extinct in 1990 upon the death of the ninth Duke, at which point the earldom passed to the most senior agnatic cousin, namely one of the 6th degree.
Guido Reni was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious works, but also mythological and allegorical subjects. Active in Rome, Naples, and his native Bologna, he became the dominant figure in the Bolognese School that emerged under the influence of the Carracci.
Georges de La Tour was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chiaroscuro scenes lit by candlelight.
Domenico Fetti was an Italian Baroque painter who had been active mainly in Rome, Mantua and Venice.
The Bentinck family is a prominent family belonging to Dutch, German and British nobility. Its members have served in the armed forces and as ambassadors and politicians, including as Governor General of India and as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The family is related to the British royal family through the maternal Cavendish-Bentinck line of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
William John Arthur Charles James Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland,, known as William Cavendish-Bentinck until 1879, was a British landowner, courtier, and Conservative politician. He notably served as Master of the Horse between 1886 and 1892 and again between 1895 and 1905.
Guido Cagnacci was an Italian painter originally from Santarcangelo di Romagna. Associated most readily with the Baroque period, his mature works are characterized by their use of chiaroscuro and their sensual subjects. He was influenced by the masters of the Bolognese School.
Sebastiano Ricci was an Italian painter of the late Baroque school of Venice. About the same age as Piazzetta, and an elder contemporary of Tiepolo, he represents a late version of the vigorous and luminous Cortonesque style of grand manner fresco painting.
Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland was a British aristocrat, styled Lady Margaret Harley before 1734, Duchess of Portland from 1734 to her husband's death in 1761, and Dowager Duchess of Portland from 1761 until her own death in 1785.
Welbeck Abbey in the Dukeries in North Nottinghamshire was the site of a monastery belonging to the Premonstratensian order in England and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a country house residence of the Dukes of Portland. It is one of four contiguous ducal estates in North Nottinghamshire and the house is a grade I listed building.
Francesco Trevisani was an Italian painter, active in the period called either early Rococo or late Baroque (barochetto).
Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, styled Lord Harley between 1711 and 1724, was a British politician, bibliophile, collector and patron of the arts.
Domenico Robusti, also known as Domenico Tintoretto, was an Italian painter from Venice. He grew up under the tutelage of his father, the renowned painter Jacopo Tintoretto.
Winifred Anna Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland was a British humanitarian and animal welfare activist.
St Winifred's Chapel, Holbeck is a Grade II listed parish church and former private chapel in the Church of England in Holbeck, Nottinghamshire, south-west of Worksop. Holbeck is an estate village built for the Dukes of Portland at Welbeck Abbey.
The Civic Museum of Palazzo Mosca is the main civic museum of Pesaro, displaying art and decorative works, located in Piazza Mosca in this town of the region of the Marche, Italy.
Xavier F. Salomon is a British art critic and both Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator at the Frick Collection in New York. Born in Rome to an English mother and Danish father, he has British citizenship and is most notable for his expertise on Paolo Veronese. From April 2020 through July 2021, Salomon hosted an online program "Cocktails with a Curator" with Frick curators Aimee Ng and Giulio Dalvit. The program examined artworks at the Frick and had 66 episodes, which are available on YouTube and are the basis of a book.
