L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e ~ D o s t o ï e v s k i

L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e  ~  D o s t o ï e v s k i



Sunday, August 2, 2015

Serious English faces - portraits by John Greenhill


Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke, circa mid-1670s. (Detail.)

John Greenhill (circa 1644, Salisbury – 19 May 1676, London), English portrait painter. Interested in art from an early age, in about 1662 he moved to London in order to study. He became a pupil of Sir Peter Lely, and also carefully studied and copied the late van Dyck's portraits; it is said that his rapidly progressing skill aroused Lely's jealousy. He married early and was at first industrious and increasingly successful. But he had a pronounced taste for the theater and, living in Covent Garden, he began to associate with free-living theatrical types, and fell into "irregular habits". In May of 1676, while returning from a tavern in a drunken state, he fell into the gutter. Carried to his lodgings, he died the same night. He left a widow and family, to whom Lely gave an annuity. There's disagreement as to the date of his birth, but he was probably about thirty-two.

The artist, circa 1665.
Portrait of a lady, traditionally identified as Lucy Sherman, no date.
Thomas Weedon, circa 1675.
Sir Anthony Deane, no date.
Lady Twisden, 1676.
William Cartwright, circa mid-1660s.
 Sir Matthew Dudley, Bt (attributed to Greenhill), no date.
Portrait of a Lady as a Shepherdess, circa 1665.
James, Duke of York, later James II, early 1660s. (This portrait definitely appears to be unfinished.)
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, circa 1672-73.
Mrs. Jane Cartwright, circa mid-1660s.
John Locke, circa 1672-76.



1 comment:

  1. people used to die from the strangest things, which always feels to me as if it's not what REALLY happened...haha

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