When viewing the eight-portrait series “Hampton Court Beauties,” those struck by the combination of beauty, sobriety, grandeur, reserve, and dignity might assume these paintings were the work of a mid-to-late 18th-century artist. However, these portraits were composed a century earlier by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723), the German-British painter regarded to be the greatest English baroque portraitist.
Trained by Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680), who studied under the Dutch master Rembrandt, Kneller’s work shows strong and unmistakable signs of his foundation in the Northern baroque tradition. The subdued atmosphere, the subject’s naturalism and relaxed poses, and frequent use of dark or neutral colored clothing were common in Dutch baroque art rather than the dramatic and effusive Flemish baroque style.
Between completing his apprenticeship in the Netherlands and beginning a career as England’s master portraitist, Kneller spent six years in Rome assisting Carlo Maratta (1625–1713). Known for his classicized paintings, Maratta was one of the few Italian baroque artists to maintain Raphael’s classical artistic traditions. Kneller’s frequent inclusion of classicizing elements, which took on a more dominant role in the Hampton Beauties, reflects Maratta’s influence and indicates the artist’s own preferences.
Windsor Court Beauties
When Kneller arrived in England in 1676, the country’s artistic world looked to the baroque styles of Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck—who lived there throughout the 1630s—as the gold standard. Peter Lely (1618–1680), court painter to King Charles II, was in the closing years of a life spent maintaining that stylistic tradition.King Charles gained a reputation for moral laxity and lavishness. Based partly on the French court where he grew up, Charles rewrote court rules in England. Beauty brought power, and court mistresses were granted certain liberties that extended into society.
In accordance with Charles’s reign, Lely developed a sultry yet virtuous look that the court women sought in the “Windsor Beauties” series. His 11-portrait series represented the idealized beauty: sultry and sleepy-eyed, languid women with long ringlets flowing over their exposed shoulders and low necklines.
English art remained firmly tied to the politics, morals, and culture of English royalists. This meant acting in accord with a standard of artistic morality then widely held in Christian Europe. Indications of women’s sexuality in art typically had to be restrained, subtle, and secondary rather than the central focus.
The Puritanical view, which influenced England from the mid-16th to late-17th century, condemned the excessive, immodest, and immoral. The Puritans insisted art should avoid even hints of sexuality. Because Lely’s portraiture expressed the era’s morals—or lack thereof, he was criticized as licentious.
The Puritans were an important element in the Whig political faction, which aimed to strengthen Parliament and weaken the monarchy. Kneller primarily moved in Whig circles, though this was mitigated by his ironic appointment as the king’s court artist after Lely’s death in 1680.
At first, the appointment to court painter had a limited impact on Kneller’s work. While English art of the time favored the flamboyant expression of baroque art, Kneller embraced a more sober baroque style. He avoided the flirtatious and sensual art loved by the licentious circles of royalists.
The cultural landscape shifted after the king’s brother and successor James II were overthrown in favor of William (a grandson of Charles I) and Mary (James’s daughter) in 1688.
Hampton Court Beauties
Around 1690, Kneller began composing more classicist artworks showcasing dignity, grandeur, and intellect over emotion. This shift is evident in his portraits of “William III,” “Mary II” and “The First Duke of Bedford.” To what extent this classicist turn was initiated by Kneller or by his patrons is unknown. But Kneller and the new regime shared a commitment to sobriety and modesty which marked his work throughout his career.
The Hampton Court Beauties were Kneller’s most explicit proclamation of such values. This was his modest response to the passion, luxuriousness, and flirtatiousness present in many of Lely’s “Windsor Beauties.”
Kneller’s portraits signaled a new cultural alignment with the more sober, modest, and stolid Dutch style. Unlike Lely’s “Windsor Beauties,” Kneller’s portraits were not of the king’s mistresses, but attendants to Queen Mary. The women he portrayed were the center of the new order and embraced its values—the Duchess of Grafton, Duchess of Saint Albans, Countess of Dorset, Countess of Essex, Countess of Peterborough, Countess of Ranelagh, Lady Middleton, and Mary Pitt.
