Attributed to Sir Godfrey Kneller

(Lübeck 1646–1723 London)
Portrait of a Lady, traditionally identified as Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu (1689–1762),
oil on canvas, 131 x 104 cm, framed

The sitter is traditionally identified as Lady Mary Pierrepont, who later became Lady Mary Montagu. Lady Mary Pierrepont (1689-1762), daughter of the Duke of Kingston, contrary to her father’s wishes, married Edward Wortley Montagu (1678-1761), a rising Whig politician, and became a notable figure in London society. In 1716, on the appointment of her husband as British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, she travelled to Istanbul and remained there for two years. While there she wrote her celebrated Letters, describing life in the East. Showing great admiration for Turkish women and their freedoms, she adopted their costume, thus gaining ready access to public places in Adrianople and Istanbul.

Kneller’s most famous works include the Hampton Court Beauties, a cycle of ten portraits painted at the court of King William III. It had been commissioned from Kneller by Queen Mary in response to Lely’s series of the Windsor Beauties. In his portraits, Kneller conceived a female type that became influential for depictions of young, beautiful women. As is illustrated by the present picture, Kneller only referred to contemporary fashion for the hairstyles of his sitters, who otherwise present themselves in a timeless, classical guise. In the late seventeenth century, Kneller was England’s most popular portraitist. He painted not only the likenesses of members of the Royal Family and the nobility, but also such foreign potentates as King Charles IV of Spain.