Old English School Portrait From The 18th Century

OIL ON CANVAS - DIMENSIONS 76 X 95 CM Portrait of an officer painted with cape and armor, the proud gaze is turned towards the viewer according to the pictorial canons of the English school. The pictorial quality could bring us back to the school of Godfrey Kneller. Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck, August 8, 1646 - London, October 19, 1723) was a German artist and painter, mainly a portrait painter, who became the leading English court painter in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He was the successor to Sir Peter Lely. Gottfried Kneller was born in Lübeck, Germany, in 1646. As a young man, he studied in the city of Leiden; however, he soon became the favorite pupil of Ferdinand Bol and Rembrandt, settling in Amsterdam. In the early 1770s he worked in Rome and Venice, working on historical subjects and portraits. On his return from his trip to Italy, he settled in Hamburg. He was called to England by the Duke of Monmouth, James Crofts, natural son of King Charles II Stuart with his brother, John Zacharias Kneller, also a painter. He was soon presented to Charles II, who commissioned a portrait from him. During his English period, Godfrey Kneller mainly concentrated on portraiture. He founded a personal workshop and put himself at the service of the English aristocracy and bourgeoisie. He played Charles Lennox, son of the king, scientists Isaac Newton and Thomas Betterton, sculptor Grinling Gibbons, Italian painter Antonio Verrio, General Duke John Churchill and many other great names of nobility and culture. His major works include a series of four portraits of Newton, one of portraits of European monarchs including Louis XIV, and over forty portraits of members of the English Kit-Cat club. On the death of Sir Peter Lely, Kneller was appointed Principal Crown Painter, the official court painter. In the following years, he created the Hampton Court Beauties, a famous series of portraits for William III. George I made him a baronet. THE WORK WILL BE SHIPPED IN A WOODEN BOX AND WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY