Godfrey Kneller

Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723), born Gottfried Kniller in Lübeck, was the leading portrait painter in England under the later Stuarts and George I. After studying under Rembrandt in Amsterdam and working in Rome and Venice, he settled in London in 1676 and painted Charles II; after Peter Lely died in 1680 he became a Principal Painter in Ordinary.

His studio produced portraits on a vast scale, using sketches of faces and a formula for the remaining details. His Hampton Court Beauties of 1690–1691 earned him a knighthood in 1692; he later painted the forty-eight Kit-Cat Club portraits and was created a baronet in 1715.