The Talman Family Group

Identify sitters

© National Portrait Gallery, London

1 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation Close

The Talman Family Group

by Giuseppe Grisoni
oil on canvas, 1718-1719
40 3/8 in. x 28 1/2 in. (1024 mm x 724 mm)
Purchased, 1985
Primary Collection
NPG 5781

Sittersback to top

Artistback to top

  • Giuseppe Grisoni (1699-1769), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 3 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Painted around 1718, Giuseppe Grisoni's portrait of the Talman Family is a strange combination of old and new styles. The foreground is like a conversation piece, the type of portrait that was fashionable for group portraits from the 1730s. The background, however, with its allegorical subtext and mythological characters, is typically Baroque - a continental style that was rarely used in British portraits by the eighteenth century.

Linked publicationsback to top

Events of 1718back to top

Current affairs

Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland becomes first Lord of the Treasury, the most influential political post in Britain at this time.
Transportation Act creates the punishment of penal transportation as an alternative to the death penalty.
Marrow Controversy; an ecclesiastical dispute breaks out in Scotland over the doctrine of atonement.


Art and science

Proper motion of the stars is discovered by Astronomer Royal Edmond Halley.
Inventor James Puckle patents an early form of machine gun known as the Puckle Gun.

International

Charles XII of Sweden dies in mysterious circumstances and is succeeded by his sister Ulrika Eleonora.
Quadruple Alliance formed as the Holy Roman Empire joins the Triple Alliance to prevent the Spanish changing the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht. War of the Quadruple Alliance begins against Spain until 1720. George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington is made Admiral of the Fleet and thwarts Spanish attempts to take Sicily at the Battle of Cape Passaro.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.