Mansion House Antiques & Fine Art has dated this piece to the 17th Century.
This particular portrait depicts a very young Princess Anne (nee Stuart) est.
ABOUT GODFREY KNELLER (Follower Of}
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller, 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to English and British monarchs from Charles II to George I. His major works include The Chinese Convert (1687 Royal Collection, London) a series of four portraits of Isaac Newton painted at various junctures of the latter's life a series of ten reigning European monarchs, including King Louis XIV of France over 40 "kit-cat portraits" of members of the Kit-Cat Club and ten "beauties" of the court of William III.
SYMBOLISM IN PICTURES
The use of objects within a still life painting that have a special meaning This creates a deeper meaning in a work besides being a pretty picture! The still life painting has allowed artists the ability to send these extra messages.
Allegorical is representations of the brevity of life, decay and finally death and was a popular theme, called Vanitas.Allegory is a way of communicating a message via symbols, and symbolic figures.
VANITAS (Latin for vanity). These are paintings with still life symbolism around a central theme with a moral message. They remind the viewer of death, the fragility of human life, and the brevity of our existence. The artist would use items like a skull, timepiece, snuffed out candle to represent the passage of time. Books, musical instruments (very expensive items during the time period) are there to warn of the futility of worldy pursuits.
ABOUT THE SITTER
Anne was born on 6 February 1665 in London, the second daughter of James, Duke of York, brother of Charles II. Anne and her elder sister Mary received a Protestant upbringing although their father James converted to Catholicism and remarried. In 1683 Anne married Prince George of Denmark (1653–1708). She had between 16 and 18 pregnancies but tragically only one child survived - William, Duke of Gloucester and he died aged 11 of smallpox in 1700.
Her sister Mary married William of Orange but Anne was forbidden by her father to visit her in the Netherlands. When William landed in England in 1688 to take the throne, Anne on the influence of her close friend Sarah Churchill (1650–1744) the wife of John Churchill (1650–1722), supported her sister and brother-in-law against her father James. Churchill was created Duke of Marlborough by William when he was crowned King William III and her sister Queen Mary II. Anne detested her brother-in-law, and the Churchill’s influence led her briefly during William’s reign to engage in Jacobite intrigues.
Mary died in 1694 and on William’s death in 1702 and Anne succeeded to the throne and became the Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland between 8 March 1702 and 1 May 1707. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland united as a single sovereign state known as Great Britain.
FRAMED MEASUREMENTS
Height 58.5 Inches (149 cm)
Width 39 Inches (99.5 cm)
CONDITION
Very good throughout with evidence of a firm historical reline with very minor craquelure as usual with slight retouching commensurate with age.Stretchers replaced in the past, all looking very respectable.
Mansion House Antiques & Fine Art has dated this piece to the 17th Century.
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17thc Queen Anne of England Follower of Artist Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) & Earlier Princess Anne of Denmark (1683-1702) Aged 18-21 Old Master Royal Oil Portrait Paintings in Period Gilt Frame
