A FOCUS ON…

Sir Godfrey Kneller and his portraits of

the Duke of Marlborough (1650-

1722)

The painterKneller was born Germany. He studied mathematics and military

fortification, and was then apprenticed in Amsterdam to the painters Ferdinand Bol and Rembrandt.

He travelled to Italy, particularly Rome and Venice.

He settled in England in 1676, and by 1678 had secured royal patronage.

Kneller was appointed in 1688 as Principal Painter to William III and was knighted in 1692.

Kneller became a leading fashionable portrait painter. He became the exponent of the baroque portrait in England.

John Smith’s print, after Kneller

Comment upon the use of colours in this painting by Kneller.

Which elements indicate that when the portrait was made, around 1705, the Duke of Marlborough was acclaimed as a military hero ?

After William of Orange’s coronation, he was awarded the earldom of Marlborough as a reward for his military accomplishments. During the reign of Queen Anne, after 1702, Marlborough reached the zenith of his powers and secured his fame and fortune. Anne made him the Master-General of the Ordnance, a Knight of the Garter and Captain-General of her armies at home and abroad.

Unknown artist

Presumably a sketch for a full-scale allegorical painting which seems never to have been carried out. This oil sketch shows Queen Anne's great Commander-in-Chief, the victor of Blenheim and Ramillies, in triumph. On the left is Hercules with his club and a key (possibly a symbol of submission) and a woman offering him a castle. Under Marlborough's horse's hooves is the dishevelled figure of Discord, while in the clouds sits Justice; below her, Victory crowns the duke with laurel. It appears that the full-scale allegorical painting for which this is presumably a study was never completed. Stylistically the work is heavily influenced by Rubens, while in spirit it conveys Britain's confidence as a European power.

National Gallery

The compositionThe canvas can be divided into two parts:

the lower part, or the foreground features Marlborough as well as mythological and allegorical figures on each side of the Duke; the upper part is a celestial scene with divine characters and angels in the manner of religious paintings. The two parts are separated by the sky.

Marlborough is placed right in the middle of the canvas so that the viewer’s attention is drawn by his figure. A vertical axis, uniting Marlborough’s leg and chest and the arm of victory, further enhances the character.

LightKneller uses light to enhance

Marlborough’s figure. While the foreground and the upper part of the sky are painted in brownish colours or dark grey, Marlborough’s breast plate and armour are highlighted in a vivid way. The reflection of natural light on the victor’s chest symbolizes his victory and triumph.

While the sky is cloudy, in the very background the wind has cleared up the sky. This patch of blue sky certainly evokes peace and hope for England now that the war is over. The trampled figure of Discord backs up this interpretation.

Style

The movement of the clouds rendered through serpentine lines and thin swirling brushtrokes adds to the liveliness of the composition. The greyish hues of the clouds and their billows echo the Duke’s wig. The contrasted colours of the clouds contribute to the dramatic effect of the scene. The putti are painted in movement and in natural positions. The foreshortening technique for the figure of Victory and the round draperies are also typical of the Baroque style.

One can notice the combination of long fluid strokes with shorter, blunt strokes, which add to the movement. Highlights of lead white add to the volume of the clouds. Transparent browns are used as well as glazes to suggest the volume of the clouds and light effects. The presence of the shadowy figure of Justice enables the painter to heighten the sense of depth.

This area suggest a complex layering of colours and pigments.

The fiery horse as well as the highly expressive figure of discord foreshadow romanticism.

Kneller favors curvilinear forms and serpentine lines which dramatize the emotions.

The brown half-tones are varied yet they unify this part of the painting.

The disordered loose strokes, the gentle scratches, the impulsive brushwork offer a contrast with the much neater figure of the Duke. The distorted body and dishevelled face of Discord are rendered with much expressivity.

Colours

Red Colour Pigments These included the orange-red pigment Vermilion (China Red), Carmine, "Lac", the yellow red Realgar, and the bright red "Dragons Blood", and earthy hues like Venetian Red.

Blue Colour Pigments These included the superlative pigment Ultramarine, as well as its leftovers known as Ultramarine Ashes, Azurite, and Egyptian Blue. During the Baroque period of the mid-17th century, colour-makers developed an improvement on Egyptian Blue called Smalt, in which they replaced copper with Cobalt.

Purple Colour Pigments These included the plant colourants Indigo and Madder.Green Colour Pigments These included the blue-green Verdigris, the variable Green Earth (Terre Verte, Verona Green or Celadonite) and the

bright-green Malachite, also known as Verdeazzuro.Yellow Colour Pigments These included the bright and transparent yellow colourant Gamboge, Massicot (a lead oxide), Naples Yellow

(Giallorino), the rich lemon hue Orpiment, and Lead-Tin Yellow.Brown Colour Pigments These were mostly clay pigments like raw Sienna, burnt Sienna, raw Umber and burnt umber, to which was added,

during the Baroque era, the rather unreliable Van Dyck Brown.White Colour Pigments These included Lead White, Gypsum, and Chalk.Black Colour Pigments These included Ivory Black (from burnt ivory/bones), Lamp Black (from soot collected from oil lamps), and Vine Black

(from charred grape vines).Red/Black Chalks In addition, like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and other great Renaissance draughtsmen, 18th century Rococo artists

used natural chalks made from mineral pigments, for drawing, as exemplified in works by Jean-Antoine Watteau.

New Pigments Developed in the Eighteenth CenturySeveral advances in colour chemistry had a major impact on the 18th century colour palette, as follows:• Prussian Blue Known also by a variety of names like Berlin Blue, Bronze Blue, Chinese Blue, Milori Blue, Parisian Blue, and Steel Blue,

this dark-blue (developed accidentally by the Berlin chemist Diesbach) was the first modern, synthetic pigment. It became available to artists' palettes from about 1724. Although it possessed excellent tinting strength, it was only fairly permanent to light and air. Nevertheless it became a popular alternative to Indigo dye, Smalt, and Tyrian purple, all of which were prone to fading, and an alternative to the costly ultramarine. Prussian Blue was taken up by such masters as Pieter van der Werff and Antoine Watteau. Prussian Blue endured into the 20th century before being replaced by Pthalo Blue.

• Turner's Yellow Named after the chemist who invented it, rather than the English watercolourist artist, JMW Turner (1775-1851), this lead-based pigment was a fashionable addition to the 18th century colour palette for a period because of its low cost, although it was vulnerable to both impermanence and blackening. Hues varied from bright yellow to orange. Eventually supplanted by Cadmium Yellow in the 19th century.

• Bremen Blue During the latter part of the 18th century, colour technicians developed a beautiful synthetic copper blue, known as Bremen Blue. However, by the early 1800s it was superceded by Cobalt Blue, although it survived until the 1910s because of its range of attractive hues.

• Cobalt Green A semi-transparent but extremely permanent bright green pigment discovered in 1780 by the Swedish chemist Rinmann, it was employed in all painting mediums. However, its unsatisfactory tinting strength and high cost has restricted its use.