Sir Godfrey Kneller

Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (1646–1723) Sir Godfrey Kneller was a German-born British portrait painter who rose to prominence as the leading portraitist in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Born Gottfried Kniller on August 8, 1646, in Lübeck, he trained in Leiden and later studied under Ferdinand Bol and Rembrandt in Amsterdam. His early travels took him to Rome and Venice, where he painted historical subjects before settling in England in 1676 with his brother, the ornamental painter Johann Zacharias Kneller. Kneller quickly established himself in London’s artistic circles and gained early patronage from the Duke of Monmouth. He soon became court painter to King Charles II and later served under successive monarchs including James II, William III, Queen Anne, and George I. In 1680, following the death of Sir Peter Lely, he was appointed Principal Painter in Ordinary to the Crown. Kneller’s prolific studio, known for its efficient production of portraits using standardized formats, catered to the tastes of the aristocracy and political elite. Among his most celebrated commissions were the Hampton Court Beauties painted for William III and the Kit-Cat portraits of Whig politicians and writers, which helped define the visual identity of the period. He was knighted in 1692, received a Doctorate of Law from Oxford in 1695, and was made a baronet by George I in 1715. Kneller also founded an academy for painting and drawing in London and remained a central figure in British art until his death. Kneller died in London on October 19, 1723, and was buried at St Mary’s Church in Twickenham, where he had served as a churchwarden. A memorial to him was later erected in Westminster Abbey. Though he left no legitimate children, his estate passed to his grandson, Godfrey Kneller Huckle, the son of his illegitimate daughter. His legacy endures through his vast body of portraiture, which captures the faces of many key figures of the English Restoration and early Georgian eras.