Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt

Godfrey Kneller painted this self-portrait around 1685, depicting himself at the height of his career as the dominant court painter in England following the death of Peter Lely. Kneller was born in Lübeck and trained in Amsterdam under Rembrandt's pupil Ferdinand Bol before settling in England, where his facility for flattering likeness and his ability to manage a large studio output made him the most commercially successful portraitist of his generation. He painted ten successive British monarchs and his studio produced an enormous number of portraits of the aristocracy, gentry, and cultural figures of the late Stuart and early Hanoverian period. His self-portrait demonstrates the confident, polished technique that made him the standard against which English portraiture was measured until Gainsborough and Reynolds transformed the tradition.

Kneller presents himself with the confident bearing and elegant costume appropriate to his social aspirations, employing a warm palette and fluid technique. The assured handling of silk drapery and the direct, intelligent gaze demonstrate both his technical skill and his self-awareness as an artist.