La Reine de Grande Bretagne Anne Stuart (1665-1714) Huile sur toile attribuée à G. KNELLER

Portrait of Queen Anne Stuart who reigned 1702 to 1714 by Gotfried KNELLER Ann was born in London on February 6, 1665 and died in the same city on August 1, 1714, is Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from March 8, 1702 when the Acts of Union came into force on May 1, 1707. From this date, England and Scotland form a single kingdom, Great Britain, of which Anne is the first queen until her death. Anne is the second daughter of the Duke of York James, the younger brother of King Charles II. Although her father is Catholic, she is educated in the Anglican faith following the instructions of her uncle. On the death of Charles, in 1685, Jacques became king, but he was deposed three years later by the Glorious Revolution which brought to power Marie II, the elder sister of Anne, and her husband William III of Orange-Nassau, both Protestants. The two sisters, until then close, fall out over questions of money and dating, Marie not approving of the close friendship between Anne and Sarah Churchill, the wife of the Duke of Marlborough. Marie died in 1694 without having given children to Guillaume, who died in turn in 1702. Anne succeeded her on the thrones of England and Scotland. Politically, it favors the Tories to the detriment of the Whigs, mainly for religious reasons. However, the hold of the Whigs on power continued to grow throughout the War of the Spanish Succession until 1710, when Anne dismissed many Whigs from the government. His friendship with Sarah Churchill deteriorates due to their divergent political views and the growing influence of another favorite, Abigail Masham. In revenge, the Duchess paints in her memories an unflattering portrait of the queen, which is not questioned by historians until the end of the 20th century. Despite seventeen pregnancies, none of Anne's children and her husband, Prince George of Denmark, reach adulthood. The queen, the last ruler of House Stuart, suffered from poor health throughout her life and died at the age of forty-nine in 1714. Under the Act of Establishment of 1701, which excludes the Catholics of the order of succession, the throne goes to his first cousin, the Prince-Elector of Hanover George I.

Godfrey Kneller or Gottfried Kneller (August 8, 1646 in Lübeck - October 19, 1723 in London) is a British portrait painter. The name he bore in Lübeck was Gottfried Kniller and it is still under this surname that the museums of Lübeck present his works. He traveled to Rome and Venice from 1672 to 1675, probably painting portraits of the Venetian nobility, before settling in England in 1676. After being presented to the Duke of Monmouth, he received commissions from King Charles II and was launched as a court artist and appointed first painter, a title he retained under that prince's successors. Renowned as a portrait painter in the grand style, he portrayed the greatest figures of the time, Newton, Charles II, Peter the Great, the Archduke Charles ... In 1684-1685, he came to France, and painted the portrait of Louis XIV for Charles II. Court painter to Jacques II and George I, he was appointed main painter to the co-regents William III and Queen Marie II in 1688, he also painted several portraits of Queen Anne Stuart. Knighthood in 1692, he received in 1695, in the presence of the king, an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Oxford. In 1700, he was appointed knight of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Leopold I.