Portrait of George I
After Sir Godfrey Kneller German
Engraver John Smith British
Publisher John Smith British
Not on view
The engraved bust-length portrait is based on a full-length painting by Kneller that hangs in the Library at Houghton Hall. In the painting, the sitter wears his coronation robes and royal regalia including the collar of the Order of the Garter.
George I came to the throne after the death of Queen Anne in 1714, his claim supported by the Act of Settlement of 1701 which stipulated that only Protestants could inherit. As Lord of the Treastury, Sir Robert Walpole was the king's chief minister and helped steer the Hanoverian succession through numerous crises, including Jacobite attempts to regain the throne for Stuart heirs.
When he placed the king's portrait in his library at Houghton, Walpole affirmed that his service to George I and George II were foundational to his own career.
