Portrait of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (1665-1751). Gottfried Kneller, circle of

Portrait of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (1665-1751).

Early 18th-century near-life-size portrait of a noble man richly dressed in a long wig.

Circle of the German-British court painter Gottfried Kneller (Lübeck, 1646-1723, London).

Technique: oil on canvas, relined.
Modern wooden frame.

On the back of the canvas, there is an inscription: Frederic Hervey Earl of Bristol, 1764, however we believe that the date reported there is wrong.
On the stylistic basis and evident resemblance to him, we believe that Frederic's grandfather is represented : John Harvey.

The painting represents a man looking towards us with a barely visible smile, extremely elegant.

John Harvey (1665-1751) was an English politician of the Whig party, who became a member of the English parliament for his city of Bristol in 1694. The family owned a well-known property, Ickworth House, in Suffolk. Interesting fact: at the end of the 18th century, a stupendous neoclassical villa was built, intended to contain the family's art collection, but the project failed due to Napoleon's raids.
The painting can certainly be attributed to the first quarter of the 18th century and with a high probability it is a portrait made at the moment in which John Hervey becomes the first Earl of Bristol, i.e. when he receives this noble title.
In the Collection of Ickworth house, Suffolk, it is preserved
another portrait of John Harvey, done by the French portraitist Jean-Baptist van Loo from 1742.
The painting is in fair condition, the painting has undergone cleanings and restorations in the past. There are some retouches and abrasions attributable to ancient restorations,
The frame is from the 20th century.

Painter Godfrey Kneller (Lubeck, 1646 – 1723, London) served as the official court painter in England. Among his portraits are numerous depictions of British monarchs, including Charles II of England and George I of Great Britain. Perhaps his most famous portrait is that of Isaac Newton, and he also painted a portrait of Louis XIV, the French king. Godfrey Kneller, in turn, was the son of a portraitist. He studied in Leiden, apprenticing under Ferdinand Bol, and later in Amsterdam under Rembrandt van Rijn.
After traveling, including visits to Rome and Venice in the early 1670s, he painted historical subjects and portraits in Carlo Maratta's studio before heading to Hamburg.
Moved to England in 1676.

Measures with the frame 170cm by 135cm
Without frame 155cm by 118cm