Kneller
SIR GODFREY, an Eng- , an Eng- Aug. 8, 1648.
Aug. 8, 1648. He learned painting un- Ferdinand Bol. In 1674 he went to London, and, on the death of Sir Peter Lely in 1680, was appointed court -painter to Charles II.
This office he retained during the reign of James II. and continued to fill it after the Revolution . In 1692 William III. knighted him, and in 1715 George I. made him a baronet. Kneller's best known productions are the "Beauties of Hampton Court" (painted by order of William III.), his portraits of the "Kit-Cat Club," and of nine sovereigns ( Charles II. to George I. of England, Louis XIV., Peter He painted avowedly for the love of the Great, and the Emperor Charles VI .). money , and hence never did justice to the undoubted talent he possessed. He died in Twickenham, Nov. 7, 1723. tain degree of military rank. Also one