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Grinling Gibbons

After Sir Godfrey Kneller German
Artist and engraver John Smith British
Sitter Grinling Gibbons British, born The Netherlands
1690
Not on view
This three-quarter length portrait represents a sculptor acclaimed for his virtuoso carvings in pearwood. He wears a long wig and holds compasses in one hand, the other resting on a cast or copy of Proserpina (part of Bernini's famous sculptural group "Pluto and Proserpina" at the Villa Borghese, Rome). Sir Robert Walpole owned the related painting by ca. 1723 and hung it at Houghton above a fireplace in the Common Parlor in 1736, framed with a carved garland by Gibbons. The third Earl of Orford sold the parinting to Catherine the Great and it is now at the Hermitage; the garland remains in place and is one of the few works at Houghton that survive from the days of the first earl's grandfather.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Grinling Gibbons
  • Artist: After Sir Godfrey Kneller (German, Lübeck 1646–1723 London)
  • Artist and engraver: John Smith (British, Daventry 1652–1743 Northampton)
  • Sitter: Grinling Gibbons (British (born The Netherlands), Rotterdam 1648–1721 London)
  • Date: 1690
  • Medium: Mezzotint
  • Dimensions: sheet: 13 3/8 x 10 5/16 in. (34 x 26.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925
  • Object Number: 25.62.28r(a)
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Aedes Walpolianae, or a Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, the Seat of the Right Honorable Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford (Interleaved with Drawings by Isaac Ware for: The Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Chimney Pieces, and Celings of Houghton Hall in Norfolk...1735) ["The Walpole Album"], Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford British, Etching, engraving, pen and ink, brush and wash, watercolor
Aedes Walpolianae, or a Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, the Seat of the Right Honorable Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford (Interleaved with Drawings by Isaac Ware for: The Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Chimney Pieces, and Celings of Houghton Hall in Norfolk...1735) ["The Walpole Album"]
Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford
1550–early 20th century
Portrait of George I
Multiple artists/makers
1715
Portrait of a Woman, Called Maria Taylor Byrd, Sir Godfrey Kneller German, Oil on canvas, American
Portrait of a Woman, Called Maria Taylor Byrd
Sir Godfrey Kneller
1700–1725
Johannes Locke
Multiple artists/makers
1721
Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726), Duke of St. Albans, Sir Godfrey Kneller German, Oil on canvas
Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726), Duke of St. Albans
Sir Godfrey Kneller
ca. 1690–95

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