Giuseppe Macpherson (1726-c. 1780)
Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) c.1772-80
7.0 x 5.5 cm (sight) | RCIN 421335
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Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) was born at Lübeck, Germany. He studied under Rembrandt and Ferdinand Bol. In 1672, he travelled to Rome and Venice and studied works by Bernini, Raphael and Titian, developing a particular interest in portraiture. In 1675, he moved to England and by the mid-1680s, Kneller was the most important portrait painter here. He had 'a pleasant conversation finely entertaining when a Painting', according to his contemporary, George Vertue. An anonymous account of 1693 says that he received up to 14 sitters a day and he painted virtually everyone of importance from the time of King Charles II to George I. In 1715, he was made a baronet by George I.Kneller became a wealthy property owner and financial speculator but, according to Vertue, he 'lost 20 thousand pounds in the South Sea [Company]'. Kneller died on 26 October 1723 and had a very grand funeral. He was buried in St Mary's Church, Twickenham. His intense, virtually religious, dedication to his art is attested to by the poet Alexander Pope, a neighbour in Twickenham, in a letter of 1731: 'Sir Godfrey Kneller call'd imploying the pencil [paint-brush], the prayer of the painter, and affirm'd it to be his proper way of serving God, by the talent he gave him' . The Royal Collection contains many portraits by Kneller.
This miniature is one of the collection of copies of 224 self-portraits by artists in the Uffizi Palace, Florence, that Lord Cowper, the art collector and patron, commissioned Giuseppe Macpherson (1726-1780) to paint. He presented the miniatures to King George III in two batches, in 1773 and 1786. Macpherson followed the original self-portraits quite closely, but copied only the head and shoulders. He inscribed the artists' names on the backs of the miniatures – several differ from those in the modern Uffizi catalogue, notably: Bazzi, Bellini, Campi, Annibale Carracci, Gabbiani, Masaccio, Metsys, Moroni, Pencz, Licinio, Schiavone and Spada. None of the miniatures is signed, apart from Macpherson's own self-portrait, which is inscribed: Giuseppe Macpherson / Autore della serie (Giuseppe Macpherson / Author of the series).Macpherson was born in Florence, the son of Donald Macpherson, a footman in the service of Alexander, 2nd Duke of Gordon. He was a pupil of Pompeo Batoni and painted miniatures and enamel portraits in Italy, France and Germany, finally settling in Florence. A James Macpherson is recorded in London and Paris in 1754 but it is not certain that this is the same person. He was described in 1776 as having a special talent for painting on enamel and as being 'almost the only painter in Europe who possesses this art to perfection'. He had a distinguished client list which included some of the crowned heads and dignitaries of Europe. In 1778, he was invited to add his own self-portrait to the famous painters in the grand duke's collection as it 'would do honour to Florence to enrich the collection with a work which shows that we still have some men of true merit' according to Giuseppe Pelli, director of the Uffizi at the time.Provenance
Presented to George III by Lord Cowper
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7.0 x 5.5 cm (sight)
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