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Description: | Mezzotint . The playwright and poet William Congreve wears a wig and velvet coat as he gestures to the English landscape in the background of this mezzotint portrait.
This print, after an original portrait by Godfrey painter Sir Godfrey Kneller, was published in 1733. The original is one of the 48 portraits of members of the Kit-Cat Club (committed to the furtherance of Whig objectives), commissioned from Kneller by founding member Jacob Tonson the elder, a bookseller. The original portrait is now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London. Kneller’s drawing of Congreve’s facial features, made in preparation for the painting, is in the collection of the Courtauld Institute, London.
The plaque on Congreve’s memorial at Westminster Abbey includes a copy of this portrait in relief by sculptor Francis Bird. It was commissioned by Henrietta Godolphin, second Duchess of Marlborough, with whom Congreve fathered a daughter, Mary. | Subjects: | William wig 18th century costume coat of arms male portrait William Congreve coat Congreve | Temporal: | 1733 | Source: | Government Art Collection | Creator: | John Faber I (Engraver) | Identifier: | http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?... | Go to resource |
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