Portrait of Spencer Compton is a c. 1710 portrait painting of the English politician Spencer Compton by the German-born British artist Sir Godfrey Kneller.[1][2]
| Portrait of Spencer Compton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Godfrey Kneller |
| Year | c.1710 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, portrait |
| Dimensions | 91 cm × 71 cm (35.9 in × 27.9 in) |
| Location | National Portrait Gallery, London |
Compton was a Whig supporter of Sir Robert Walpole, widely accredited as the first formal British prime minister. From 1715 to 1727 he was Speaker of the House of Commons. In 1730 he was appointed Lord President of the Council and elevated to be Earl of Wilmington. He succeeded Walpole as premier in 1741, but his administration lasted for less than seventeen months before he was replaced by his colleague and fellow Whig Henry Pelham.
The work was one of the series of Kit-cat portraits by Kneller depicting members of the Kit Cat Club, a dining society which included many leading Whigs. Today it is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery off Trafalgar Square. It was acquired by the gallery in 1945 with the support of the Art Fund.[3]
References
- ^ Black p.116
- ^ Piper p.382
- ^ https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw06835/Spencer-Compton-Earl-of-Wilmington
Bibliography
- Black, Jeremy (2001). Walpole in Power. Sutton. ISBN 978-0-7509-2523-5.
- Field, Ophelia (2008). The Kit-Cat Club: Friends Who Imagined a Nation. London: Harper Press. ISBN 978-0-00-717892-6.
- Piper, David, ed. (1963). Catalogue of Seventeenth-Century Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery 1625—1714. Cambridge University Press.
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