Sir John Vanbrugh

This 1707 portrait of Sir John Vanbrugh depicts one of the most remarkable creative figures of the English Baroque — simultaneously a celebrated playwright (The Relapse, The Provoked Wife) and a revolutionary architect (Castle Howard, Blenheim Palace). Vanbrugh's theatrical background and architectural self-teaching produced buildings of extraordinary dramatic power that Kneller's portrait captures in the image of a burly, direct personality very different from the aristocratic refinement of most of his subjects. The contrast between Vanbrugh's origins as a merchant's son and his achievement as architect of some of England's grandest houses embodied the social mobility that talent and royal favor could enable in early Georgian Britain.

Kneller captures the playwright-architect with characteristic directness, the sitter's confident, lively expression suggesting the creative energy that sustained his remarkable dual career in theater and architecture.