page_title: John Michael Wright
hierarchical_section_title: John Michael Wright
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of Mrs Salesbury with her Grandchildren Edward and Elizabeth Bagot Oil on canvas
context_page_description: John Michael Wright was a British portrait painter in the Baroque style.
  Wright was taught in Edinburgh by the Scots painter George Jamesone. He became a famous artist and scholar during his long journey in Rome. There, he entered the Accademia di San Luca, and came to know some of the most important artists of his time. He was hired by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, the governor of the Spanish Netherlands in 1655. His job was to find artworks in Oliver Cromwell's England in 1655.
  He settled in England from 1656. He served there as a court painter before and after the English Restoration. A Roman Catholic, he was favoured by the Stuart court. Hired by both Charles II and James II, he saw many of the political experiences of the era. In the last years of the Stuart rule he went back to Rome as part of an embassy to Pope Innocent XI.
  Today, Wright is seen as one of the most important British painters of his time. He is important mostly because of the special realism he used in his portraits. Perhaps because of his unusual experiences, he was favoured by people of the highest level of society. This was surprising in an age in which foreign artists were usually more liked.
context_section_description: John Michael Wright (May 1617 – July 1694) was a British portrait painter in the Baroque style. 
  Wright was taught in Edinburgh by the Scots painter George Jamesone. He became a famous artist and scholar during his long journey in Rome. There, he entered the Accademia di San Luca, and came to know some of the most important artists of his time. He was hired by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, the governor of the Spanish Netherlands in 1655. His job was to find artworks in Oliver Cromwell's England in 1655. 
  He settled in England from 1656. He served there as a court painter before and after the English Restoration. A Roman Catholic, he was favoured by the Stuart court. Hired by both Charles II and James II, he saw many of the political experiences of the era. In the last years of the Stuart rule he went back to Rome as part of an embassy to Pope Innocent XI.
  Today, Wright is seen as one of the most important British painters of his time. He is important mostly because of the special realism he used in his portraits. Perhaps because of his unusual experiences, he was favoured by people of the highest level of society. This was surprising in an age in which foreign artists were usually more liked. Wright's paintings of royalty and aristocracy are in the collections of many great galleries today.
caption: Mrs Salesbury with her Grandchildren (c. 1676), Tate Collection[1]
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