Mrs Knight

This portrait of Mrs Knight represents the countless anonymous society women Kneller painted during his decades as England's dominant portrait painter. From the 1680s until his death in 1723, Kneller was the automatic choice for any English person of means who wanted a serious portrait — his name alone conferred social legitimacy on the commissioned image. Mrs Knight's identity, now reduced to surname alone, was once fully known to her family and social circle, and her portrait served the same social and familial functions as all his commissions regardless of the subject's historical significance. Such portraits collectively preserve the appearance of the social world that sustained Kneller's workshop through forty years of commercial success.

The portrait follows Kneller's standard format for fashionable women, with elegant costume and graceful pose rendered in the smooth, accomplished technique of his female portraiture.