Johan van Diest was the son of London-based Dutch landscape painter Adriaen van Diest (1655-1704) and was probably a pupil of Sir Godfrey Kneller, whose work he copied. Army officer and road builder General George Wade (1673-1748) commissioned van Diest to paint several works, including ‘The Wise Men’s Offerings’ (c.1725; now destroyed), part of an elaborate altarpiece which Wade presented to Bath Abbey; portraits of Bath Councillors (commissioned 1728; seven now in the Council Chamber of the Guildhall, Bath) and a full-length portrait of Wade (1731; Council Chamber of the Guildhall, Bath). Despite numerous Bath commissions, van Diest remained London-based and produced decorative work for the London home of poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744).
