Sir Christopher Wren

1 portrait

by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt
oil on canvas, 1711
49 in. x 39 1/2 in. (1245 mm x 1003 mm)
Purchased, 1860
Primary Collection
NPG 113

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Sitterback to top

Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), Architect and scientist. Sitter associated with 14 portraits.

Artistback to top

Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt (1646-1723), Portrait painter. Artist associated with 1666 portraits, Sitter associated with 30 portraits.

This portraitback to top

In 1711, the year this portrait was made, the architect Sir Christopher Wren was seventy-nine and had finally completed his masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral. Wren's magnificent classicizing structure replaced the original Elizabethan cathedral which had burnt down during the Great Fire of London of 1666. In this portrait Wren's achievement is alluded to by the pair of dividers which he holds, the copy of Euclid and the plan of the west end of the new St Paul's.

Related worksback to top

NPG D11512: Sir Christopher Wren (after)

Linked publicationsback to top

Audio Guide
Hart-Davis, Adam, Chain Reactions, 2000, p. 27
Ingamells, John, Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, 2009, p. 342
Ollard, Richard, Character Sketches: Samuel Pepys and His Circle, 2000, p. 41
Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery: An Illustrated Guide, 2000, p. 82
Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery, 1997, p. 82
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 679
Simon, Jacob, The Art of the Picture Frame: Artists, Patrons and the Framing of Portraits in Britain, 1997 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 8 November 1996 - 9 February 1997), p. 59