Godfrey Kneller(Lübeck 1646 – 1723 London)

How to cite
Bakker, Piet. “Godfrey Kneller” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 2nd ed. Edited by Arthur K.
Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017–20. https://theleidencollection.com/artists/godfrey-kneller/ (archived June2020).
A PDF of every version of this biography is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive ismanaged by a permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative
occurs.

Godfrey Kneller, né Gottfried Kniller, was born in Germany and educated in the Netherlands and Italy; he isregarded, however, primarily as an English painter. In 1676, Kneller moved to England, where he changed his
name, and by the turn of the eighteenth century had become one of the most influential English portraitists.
English and foreign nobility flocked to his London workshop. His talent was held in high esteem by English
kings, and after the death of Sir Peter Lely (1618–80) Kneller became Principal Painter to the Crown, aposition he held virtually uninterrupted for years.[1] Kneller received a knighthood from William III (1650–1702)
in 1692, and his last patron, George I (1660–1727), made him a baronet in 1715, the highest title ever granted
to a painter at the time. The artist also enjoyed a substantial reputation beyond the British Isles and was madea knight of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Leopold I (1640–1705). The lovely country house Kneller built
at Whitton, Middlesex, in 1709 also reflects his social standing. It is therefore no surprise that when he died in
1723 he was buried in grand style at Twickenham.
Such a dazzling career attracted much comment, and already in his own day his life and work were written
about in England, as well as in the Netherlands where Arnold Houbraken described Kneller’s life
in his Schouburgh.[2] Although the numerous publications constitute a considerable historiography, they
concentrate almost entirely on the years he spent in England, even Houbraken’s account, with little attention
paid to Kneller’s formative years.[3]Kneller was the third son of Zacharias Kniller (1611–75) and Lucia Beuten (d. 1689). Godfrey’s older brother,
Jan Zacharias (1642–1702), also became a painter, and his younger brother, Andreas (1649–1724), was acomposer and organist. According to his English biographer, Godfrey was “well descended.”[4] His grandfather
was “surveyor-general of the mines and inspector of count Mansfeldt’s revenues.”[5] Godfrey’s father had© 2020 The Leiden CollectionGodfrey Kneller
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studied at Leipzig University and spent several years at the Swedish court, where he enjoyed the favor of
Queen Maria Eleonora (1599–1655), widow of King Gustav II Adolf (1594–1632). After the queen’s death in1655, Zacharias returned to Lübeck where, “having studied architecture and the mathematics,” he wasappointed to the office of “chief-surveyor.”[6]The description of Kneller’s father found in English sources differs in a number of important respects from anearly twentieth-century German account of Godfrey’s life, where it is noted that Zacharias Kniller was aportrait painter.[7] On 24 May 1650, the Lübeck city authorities granted him permission, as a free master, topaint “Contrafaite und andere perspektivische Stücke” (likenesses and other perspectival work).[8] Yet, judging
by the work that has survived, he was already a highly popular portraitist among the local elite in the 1640s.[9]In the German biography, after the death of Maria Eleonora, Zacharias was appointed Werkmeister of Saint
Catherine’s Church rather than city architect in Lübeck.[10] There, in 1676, a year after he died, his sons Jan
Zacharias and Godfrey personally painted an epitaph to their father. It is difficult to establish which version of
Zacharias’s life is accurate because most of the dates are missing; it is possible that both are correct.[11] It isstriking, however, that none of the English accounts mention that Godfrey’s father was a painter, even though
the author of the most detailed biography, Buckeridge, claims to have been informed by Kneller personally.
Therefore, it is possible that Kneller somewhat embellished the history of his family after being knighted in
1692.
Zacharias intended for Godfrey to have a military, not an artistic, career. To this end he sent him, “after hewas sufficiently instructed in the Latin tongue,”[12] to the Dutch Republic to study mathematics and fortification.
It is not known exactly when Kneller left for Leiden, but it was certainly not before 1662, the date of his earliest
known drawing, a portrait of Heinrich IV the Pious (1473–1541), Duke of Saxony.[13] We can only guess at
Zacharias’s reason for sending Godfrey to a Dutch university instead of a German one, although he was not
the only person from Lübeck to move to Leiden at that time—between 1660 and 1663, ten fellow townsmen
enrolled as students there.[14]When it became apparent that Godfrey was drawn more to painting than to the subjects he was studying, his
parents sent him to Amsterdam, where, according to Smith, “he made a beginning by the famous
Rembrandt’s direction.”[15] This comment corresponds with what Buckeridge wrote, according to whom Kneller
was “placed for his better instruction under the care of Rembrandt.”[16] Vertue, however, argues that Kneller“studied under Ferdinand Bol (1616–80) and had some instruction from Rembrandt.”[17] Both of these names
are encountered in Houbraken, although in the reverse order. According to him, “he turned … for his education
first to Rembrandt, and then to Ferdinand Bol.”[18]Presuming that Kneller arrived in Leiden in late 1662 or early 1663, his move to Amsterdam would have takenplace soon thereafter, probably in 1663. At first glance, an apprenticeship with Rembrandt starting in 1663 is
at odds with the accepted view that the Dordrecht painter Arent de Gelder (1645–1727) was Rembrandt’s last
pupil, and that De Gelder left the master’s workshop around this time.[19] The real question, however, iswhether Kneller studied under Rembrandt at all; comments such as “made a beginning” or “had some
instruction” do not really imply years of instruction, although it is possible he had a few lessons from themaster.[20] The literature on Rembrandt also expresses some skepticism about an apprenticeship with “the© 2020 The Leiden CollectionGodfrey Kneller
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most famous Painter at that time in Holland,”[21] because nothing in Kneller’s early work indicates
his influence.[22] On the other hand, Ferdinand Bol’s influence is manifest. Accordingly, Kneller’s training in
Amsterdam probably took place largely in the workshop of Bol.[23]An apprenticeship with Bol also corresponds with other known facts. Bol was approached by Leiden’s town
council on 10 August 1663 to paint a chimneypiece for the burgomasters’ chamber, after which date heregularly visited Leiden.[24] Kneller and Bol may well have met there. How long Kneller would have studied
under Bol is not known, but he appears to have been active as an independent painter by 1666, when hesigned and dated a portrait of the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, Johann Philipp von Schönborn (1605–73).[25]That a young painter should obtain such a prestigious commission so soon after completing his apprenticeshipis nothing short of remarkable, and indeed, the identity of the sitter and the authenticity of Kneller’s signature
are disputed.[26] Perhaps the portrait should be regarded as an early example of his extraordinary talent forthis genre, but it should be noted that securely attributed works of the 1660s are consistently of lesser quality.
They are painted entirely in the style of Bol and can be distinguished from the master’s own work only withgreat difficulty. Kneller also borrowed themes, mainly depictions of scholars in a room, from his teacher, eventhough Bol had painted his scholars in the early 1650s.[27]Wishing to develop his skills as a painter, Kneller traveled to Rome in 1672,[28] where according to Buckeridge,
he practiced “under the favourable influence of Carlo Marat [sic] and the Chevalier Bernini.”[29] According to
Smith, he spent much time in the Vatican, where he “Copyed very much after Raphael.”[30] Houbraken, too,mentions the “overheerlyke Konst” (exquisite art) of Carlo Maratta (1625–1713), the most important painter inRome in the 1670s.[31] This visit—the only reminder of which is a 1672 dated drawing—was followed by a stay in
Venice where he met the Dutch painter Robert Duval (1649–1732).
Upon learning that his father was dying, Kneller returned to Lübeck. On the way he stopped in Nuremberg,
where he met Joachim von Sandrart (1606–88). Impressed by Kneller’s work, Sandrart included him in
his Teutsche Academie a few years later.[32] Kneller cannot have stayed long in Lübeck, because he was in
Hamburg in 1676. Shortly after his arrival, he painted portraits of the family of the art lover Jacob de le Boë,the brother of the Leiden scholar and collector Franciscus de le Boë Sylvius (1614–72). In 1672 Jacob had
inherited half of his brother’s famous painting collection, which included work by Gerrit Dou (1613–75)
and Frans van Mieris (1635–81).[33] In Hamburg, Kneller associated a great deal with English merchants. He
then traveled with one of them to England, thereby, according to Smith, indulging his desire “to see Sir Antony
Van Dyck’s Works, being most ambitious of imitating that great Master.”[34] Kneller clearly succeeded in thisaim, becoming the most eminent and successful English painter of the first quarter of the eighteenth century.

- Piet Bakker, 2017

© 2020 The Leiden CollectionGodfrey Kneller
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Endnotes

1. Kneller did not hold this post during the short reign of the Catholic King James II (1633–1701)
of England (James VII of Scotland) between 1685 and 1688, although he did remain one of
the most important painters at the English court.
2. Marshall Smith, The Art of Painting (London, 1693), 23–25; Arnold Houbraken, De grooteschouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev.
ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3: 233–38; Bainbrigg Buckeridge, “An
Essay Towards an English School of Painting,” in The Art of Painting with the Lives andCharacters of above 300 of the Most Eminent Modern Painters, ed. Roger de Piles (London,
1704; 3rd ed., 1754; reprint, 1969), 393; Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting in England;With some Account of the principal Artists; And incidental notes on other arts; Collected by
the late Mr. George Vertue (London, 1763), 3: 196–214.
3. J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait (Oxford, 1983),
adds almost nothing to the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century biographies of Kneller,
though Stewart does attempt to introduce a chronological order. He relies entirely on the
scanty details provided by Kneller’s first English biographers—Marshall Smith, George Vertue,and Bainbrigg Buckeridge—for its description of the artist’s life during this period. The latterclaimed to have received his information directly “from Sir Godfrey Kneller’s own mouth;”
Bainbrigg Buckeridge, “An Essay Towards an English School of Painting,” in The Art of
Painting with the Lives and Characters of above 300 of the Most Eminent Modern Painters,
ed. Roger de Piles (London, 1704; 3rd ed., 1754; reprint, 1969), 393.
4. Marshall Smith, The Art of Painting (London, 1693), 23.
5. Bainbrigg Buckeridge, “An Essay Towards an English School of Painting,” in The Art of
Painting with the Lives and Characters of above 300 of the Most Eminent Modern Painters,
ed. Roger de Piles (London, 1704; 3rd ed., 1754; reprint, 1969), 393; Horace
Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting in England; With some Account of the principal Artists; And
incidental notes on other arts; Collected by the late Mr. George Vertue (London, 1763), 3:
201.
6. Bainbrigg Buckeridge, “An Essay Towards an English School of Painting,” in The Art of
Painting with the Lives and Characters of above 300 of the Most Eminent Modern Painters,
ed. Roger de Piles (London, 1704; 3rd ed., 1754; reprint, 1969), 393.
7. J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait (Oxford, 1983), also
makes no mention of Kneller as a portrait painter. For the biography of Zacharias Kniller, see
Wolfgang Michael, “Gottfried Kneller,” in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (Leipzig, 1906), 51:
814–20. Hans Vollmer, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler (Leipzig, 1927), 20: 600.
© 2020 The Leiden CollectionGodfrey Kneller
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8. Wolfgang Michael, “Gottfried Kneller,” in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (Leipzig, 1906), 51:
814–20. Hans Vollmer, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler (Leipzig, 1927), 20: 600.
9. A number of his works have been preserved in Lübeck, including a full-length portrait of the
Lübeck city councilor Jürgen Pavels (1568–1645) from 1645, and a portrait of the mayor of
Lübeck, Anton Köhler (1585–1657), from 1657.
10. The German word Werkmeister probably corresponds most closely with the English nouns
sexton or verger. According to Houbraken, Kneller’s father was a verger at the church.
Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen(Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3: 233.
11. Queen Maria Eleonora died in 1655 and he didn’t become Werkmeister until 1659. He might
have worked as city architect in the meantime. Other “perspectival pieces” mentioned in thecontract with the city also point to the work of an architect.
12. Bainbrigg Buckeridge, “An Essay Towards an English School of Painting,” in The Art of
Painting with the Lives and Characters of above 300 of the Most Eminent Modern Painters,
ed. Roger de Piles (London, 1704; 3rd ed., 1754; reprint, 1969), 394.
13. The drawing is a copy of a woodcut in Nicolaus Reusner’s Icones sive Imagines Impp.
Regum., Principum, Electorum, et Ducum Saxoniae of 1597, which might have been in thebook collection of Kneller’s grandfather. J. Douglas Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and theEnglish Baroque Portrait (Oxford, 1983), 2.
14. See the enrollments in the Album Studiosorum of Leiden University for the years 1660 to1663. Kneller is not registered and, considering his young age, doubts about whether heactually studied there would not be misplaced. He might have lived in Leiden in preparation of
studying at the university. It is also possible that, contrary to what Buckeridge writes, Knellerattended the senior classes of the Latin School and, “after he was sufficiently instructed in the
Latin tongue,” did not go on to enroll at the university, but instead pursued other interests.
15. Marshall Smith, The Art of Painting (London, 1693), 23.
16. Bainbrigg Buckeridge, “An Essay Towards an English School of Painting,” in The Art of
Painting with the Lives and Characters of above 300 of the Most Eminent Modern Painters,
ed. Roger de Piles (London, 1704; 3rd ed., 1754; reprint, 1969), 394.
17. Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting in England; With some Account of the principal
Artists; And incidental notes on other arts; Collected by the late Mr. George Vertue (London,
1763), 3: 201.
18. “Begaf hy zig … tot onderwijzinge eerst van Rembrant, daar na van Ferdinand Bol.” Arnold
Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen(Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3: 233.
Houbraken took his time to write Kneller’s biography. He states that he inquired among“French Writers” (De Piles, perhaps), corresponded with English friends and, on a visit to© 2020 The Leiden CollectionGodfrey Kneller
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England in 1713, questioned people who knew Kneller.
19. See the biography of Arent de Gelder in this catalogue.
20. Similarly, the Rotterdam portrait painter Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705), in 1665, received
seven lessons from Gabriel Metsu (1629–1667) in Amsterdam; see the biography of Michielvan Musscher in this catalogue. Kneller, after all, had a portrait painter as a father and would
have already learned the rudiments of this craft in Lübeck. In view of his background andcontrary to the impression given by the English biographers, he cannot have been entirely
inexperienced when he arrived in Amsterdam. His drawings support the view that he hadreceived some prior training. According to Houbraken, who made no mention of Kneller’stime in Leiden, Kneller went to Amsterdam “na dat hy zig eenigen tyd [in de Schilderkonst]
geoefent had” (after having practiced as a painter for some time), without, however, any otherreferences. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en
schilderessen (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980),
3: 233.
21. Bainbrigg Buckeridge, “An Essay Towards an English School of Painting,” in The Art of
Painting with the Lives and Characters of above 300 of the Most Eminent Modern Painters,
ed. Roger de Piles (London, 1704; 3rd ed., 1754; reprint, 1969), 394.
22. See, for example, Albert Blankert, “Rembrandt’s Pupils and Followers in the SeventeenthCentury,” in The Impact of a Genius. Rembrandt, His Pupils and Followers in the SeventeenthCentury: Paintings from Museums and Private Classes, ed. Albert Blankert et al. (Exh. cat.
Amsterdam, Waterman Gallery; Groningen, Groninger Museum) (Amsterdam, 1983), 29–30,
does not mention Kneller; Ben Broos, “Fame Shared Is Fame Doubled,” in The Impact of A
Genius. Rembrandt, His Pupils and Followers in the Seventeenth Century: Paintings from
Museums and Private Classes, ed. Albert Blankert et al. (Exh. cat. Amsterdam, Waterman
Gallery; Groningen, Groninger Museum) (Amsterdam, 1983), 47–48, doubts whether Kneller
was a pupil of Rembrandt. Liedtke, however, includes him in a list of pupils, placing him
chronologically before Arent de Gelder, Rembrandt’s last pupil, whose pupilage is dated
around 1665. Walter Liedtke, “Rembrandt’s ‘Workshop’ Revisited,” Oud Holland 117, nos. 1–2(2004): 48–73, esp. 68.
23. Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680), Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 22.
24. For the commission, see M. Hoogduin-Berkhout, “‘Op de geluckige regeeringe van Leiden’:Geschilderde voorstellingen in het Leidse stadhuis 1575–1700,’’ De Zeventiende Eeuw 22(2006): 87–92; Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680), Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk,
1982), 75.
25. Porrtrait of Johann Philipp von Schönborn (1605–73), 1666 (Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna).
26. For the discussion concerning the authenticity of the signature and date, see J. Douglas© 2020 The Leiden CollectionGodfrey Kneller
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Stewart, Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait (Oxford, 1983), 2–4, esp. note8.
27. Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680), Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 22.
28. Whether he departed for Rome from Amsterdam or Lübeck is not known. Two portraits ofscholars dated 1668 in the St. Annen Museum in Lübeck may indicate that he started thejourney in his hometown, although the provenance of these two works could not be traced.
29. Bainbrigg Buckeridge, “An Essay Towards an English School of Painting,” in The Art of
Painting with the Lives and Characters of above 300 of the Most Eminent Modern Painters,
ed. Roger de Piles (London, 1704; 3rd ed., 1754; reprint, 1969), 394.
30. Marshall Smith, The Art of Painting (London, 1693), 23.
31. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen(Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3: 234.
32. Joachim von Sandrart, Joachim von Sandrarts Academie der Bau-, Bild- und MahlereyKünste von 1675: Lebem der berühmten Maler, Bildhauer und Baumeister, ed. Arthur R.
Peltzer (Nuremberg, 1675–79; reprint, Munich, 1925), 350–51.
33. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen(Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3: 234
Joachim von Sandrart, Joachim von Sandrarts Academie der Bau-, Bild- und MahlereyKünste von 1675: Lebem der berühmten Maler, Bildhauer und Baumeister, ed. Arthur R.
Peltzer (Nuremberg, 1675–79; reprint, Munich, 1925), 350–51.
34. Marshall Smith, The Art of Painting (London, 1693), 24.

Literature
Smith, Marshall. The Art of Painting. London, 1693, 23–25.
Buckeridge, Bainbrigg. “An Essay Towards an English School of Painting.” In The Art of
Painting with the Lives and Characters of above 300 of the Most Eminent Modern
Painters. Edited by Roger de Plies, 393. London, 1704; 3rd edition, 1754; reprinted, 1969.
Houbraken,

Arnold.

DegrooteschouburghderNederlantsche

konstschilders

enschilderessen. Amsterdam, 1718–21; revised edition published in The Hague, 1753; reprinted
in Amsterdam, 1980, 3: 233–38.
Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting in England; With some Account of the principal
Artists; And incidental notes on other arts; Collected by the late Mr. George Vertue. London,
1763, 3: 196–214.
Von Sandrart, Joachim Joachim von Sandrarts Academie der Bau-, Bild- und Mahlerey© 2020 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Godfrey Kneller
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Künste von 1675: Lebem der berühmten Maler, Bildhauer und Baumeister, Edited by Arthur
R. Peltzer. Nuremburg. 1675–79, reprinted in Munich, 1925, 350–51.
Blankert, Albert. Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680), Rembrandt’s Pupil. Doornspijk, 1982, 22.
Stewart, J. Douglas. Sir Godfrey Kneller and the English Baroque Portrait. Oxford, 1983.
Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 3, B. Keil – J. Ovens. Landau,
1983, 1480–515.
Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 5, Nachträge, Ortsregister,
Ikonographisches Register, Bibliographie. Landau, 1994, 3105–6, 3246–50
Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 6, Nachträge 2, Ortsregister,
Ikonographisches Register, Bibliographie, Künstlerverzeichnis. Landau, 1994, 3721,
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© 2020 The Leiden Collection