LADY JANE HYDE (c.
This painting by the Swedish born artist, Michael Dahl, relates to the portrait of Jane Hyde, Countess of Clarendon and Rochester in the Clarendon collection.
Our portrait captures superbly the beauty for which the sitter was renowned.
It is a fine example of Dahl's eloquent depiction of aristocratic women, and reveals why, at his best, he was capable of outshining such contempories as Kneller, Richardson and Seeman. In terms of both draughtmanship and pose, Dahl's female portraits are noticeably softer and gentler than Kneller's, and thus allow for a greater versatility in the expression of feminine beauty.
Dahl's works are frequently distinguished by a greater attention to the character of the sitter than those of his rivals, and he particularly allowed a softer aspect to the surfaces of his sitter's costume and drapery. His colours are silvered and luminous, and there is a great charm and sensitivity in the overall expression of the sitter. In this example, the drapery and sitter's turned head impact a subtle sense of movement. She wears the dark headcloth often seen in Dahl's portraits at this period. Jane was celebrated in verse by her kinsman George Granville, Lord Lansdown, who wrote that the painter "must have search'd the skies/To match the lustre of her eyes". Swift calls her "my mistress" in a letter to the poet John Gay, and also states that she "was long my princpal goddess". Prior wrote of her:
"Majestically fair,/The sparkling eye, and look serene,/The gay and easy air." Alexander Pope praised her in order to make Martha Blount jealous.
The sitter was one of the two daughters of Sir William Leveson-Gower and his wife, Jane, daughter of John Granville, Earl of Bath. She was married, 2 March 1691/2 to Henry, Lord Hyde, eldest son of Laurence, 1st Earl if Rochester. He was for a time joint Vice Treasurer for Ireland, a post which enjoyed an annual pension of some £4,000. In 1711 he succeeded to the earldom of Rochester, and in 1724 to that of Clarendon, both of which titles became extinct on his death in 1753.
At the time of their marriage Lord and Lady Hyde were described as a singularly fine couple and two of their daughters were renowned for their beauty. However, even their looks were considered inferior to those of their mother.
MICHAEL DAHL (1659-1743) was a painter of exceptional talent and regarded as the only really serious rival to Sir Godfrey Kneller, for royal patronage, during the years 1690-1714. Dahl's patterns were undoubtedly indebted to the fashion set by Kneller, but Dahl had a lighter palette, and his brushwork applied in shorter and more careful strokes.
His self portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery and he is famed for having painted a series of wonderful female portraits for the Duke of Somerset, now at Petworth House, and known as the Petworth Beauties.
Dahl's portraits of members of the royal family hang at Kensington Palace and Windsor and other examples of his work can be found at the Tate and National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
SIZE: 37 x 32.5 inches inc. frame.
PROVENANCE:
Collection of Hilda Holden Betts.
Old handwritten label (now in an envelope) with much information and "Picture bought by John's great grandfather c.1850."
Roy and nadine precious: specialists in portraiture from the 16th to the 20th century. Established in 1972.
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Portrait of Lady Jane Hyde, Countess of Clarendon C.1693, by Michael Dahl.
