A good quality portrait of the Court beauty Frances, Lady Middleton (c.1666-1694).
Given by Lord Weardale 1915).
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Frances Lambert was the daughter of John Lambert of Calton Hall, Calton, Yorkshire; she was the Lambert heiress, grand-daughter of Major-General John Lambert, the famous Civil War general. Frances was named after her grandmother.
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She married Sir John Middleton, 2nd Baronet, of Belsay Castle, Northumberland and thus the Lambert estates passed to the Middletons.
Frances wears an 'undress' robe with no jewellery; she is depicted standing in a landscape and holds a rod which is probably a shepherd's crook. The reference is to the mythical realm of Arcady or Arcadia; a fashionable conceit of the time..a land where Love ruled and attractive young people wandered around a tamed landscape tending their perfectly groomed sheep... when they weren't writing poetry or playing flutes.
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Almost every lady of fashion was depicted as a shepherdess during this period.
SIR GODFREY KNELLER (1646-1723) was the most distinguished painter of baroque portraits in England.
Born in Lubeck, he trained with Bol and Rembrandt, coming to London in 1676.
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By 1679 he had painted the King and remained the most famous and successful portrait painter in England until his death.
In 1688 he was made Principal Painter to the King and was knighted in 1692 and a made a baronet in 1715.
His style had a profound influence on British portraiture and a large number of artists, some very talented in their own right, emulated his fashionable style.
SIZE: 42 x 35.5 inches inc. frame
PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Nottinghamshire.
Roy and nadine precious: specialists in portraiture from the 16th to the 20th century. Established in 1972.
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Roy Precious - Antiques & Fine Art Profile Page
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Sold....portrait of Frances Lambert, Lady Middleton C.1690; Attributed Sir Godfrey Kneller.
