John Erskine, 22nd or 6th Earl of Mar, and Jacobite Duke of Mar (1675-1732) Jacobite army officer, politician and architect; Secretary of State for Scotland 1713-1714

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Godfrey Kneller was born in Lübeck, Germany. He moved to Amsterdam in 1662 to study painting under Rembrandt and Ferdinand Bol. He later trained with Gianlorenzo Bernini and Carlo Maratta in Rome. He returned to Lübeck in 1675, before moving to Hamburg and then to London to study the works of van Dyck. In England he received commissions from prominent figures, including Charles II. Charles sent Kneller to France in 1684, to paint the portrait of Louis XIV. Kneller maintained his position at court after the accession of James II in 1685 and, when William and Mary came to the throne, he and portraitist John Riley became joint Principal Painters to the Crown. Following Riley’s death, Kneller alone retained the position. He was 77 when he died.

People

John, 22nd or 6th Earl of Mar, and Jacobite Duke of Mar Erskin (1675 - 1732)

Places

Subjects

architect (as Subject), male portrait, man, 18th century costume, ceremonial costume, wig, Earl, Privy Counsellor, Secretary of State for Scotland, Secretary of State, Scotland, general

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Sir Godfrey, (studio) Kneller

Title

John Erskine, 22nd or 6th Earl of Mar, and Jacobite Duke of Mar (1675-1732) Jacobite army officer, politician and architect; Secretary of State for Scotland 1713-1714

Date

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 76.00 cm, width: 63.50 cm

Acquisition

Presented by the Earl of Mar & Kellie, July 1926

Inscription

Label on verso, on central horizontal bar of stretcher, handwritten in black ink: Presented to the Headquarters of the / Secretary of State for Scotland, to mark / the restoration of that Office, - by H. Walter / John Francis, Earl of Mar & Kellie, K.T. / from the Alloa House Collection. / July 1926; Label on verso, on lower half of canvas, handwritten in ink: No. 5 / John 10.th Lord Erskine and 11.th Earl / of Mar, son of Charles 10.th Earl of Mar, / and Lady Mary Maule, daughter of George / Earl of Panmure, one of the Commissioners / for the Treaty of Union. Forfeited in 1715, / and died in 1732. / Painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller, / Bart., / and a print taken from it by Smith, 1707.

Provenance

Collection of the Walter John Francis Erskine, 12th Earl of Mar and 14th Earl of Kellie (1865-1955) of Alloa House, Alloa, Clackmannanshire; by whom presented to the Headquarters of the Secretary of State for Scotland ('to mark the restoration of that Office') in July 1926

GAC number

0/137