Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin (1645–1712), Financier

This 1708 portrait of Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, depicts the Lord High Treasurer who managed British finances during the War of the Spanish Succession — one of the most expensive conflicts in English history to that point. Godolphin's financial management, working alongside the Duchess of Marlborough and the Duke of Marlborough's military campaigns, kept Britain solvent through the long war against Louis XIV. His portrait by Kneller was painted at the height of his power, before his fall from Queen Anne's favor in 1710 when Tory opposition and the influence of Abigail Masham undermined the Marlborough-Godolphin ministry.

The portrait presents the financier with the restrained dignity appropriate to a man of enormous power who preferred to work behind the scenes, Kneller capturing this understated authority through measured pose and sober costume.