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Sir James Thornhill

18 of 126 portraits by Jonathan Richardson

Sir James Thornhill, by Jonathan Richardson, circa 1734 -NPG 3962 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Later Stuart Portraits Catalogue

Sir James Thornhill

after Jonathan Richardson
circa 1734
30 in. x 25 in. (762 mm x 635 mm)
NPG 3962

This portraitback to top

The similarity to the Richardson drawing of 1733 in the British Museum satisfactorily identifies the sitter.
Thornhill and Richardson were particular friends, sharing an interest in the theory of art and a belief that native English artists might develop an English school of painting. [1]

Footnotesback to top

1) See C. Gibson-Wood, Jonathan Richardson, 2000, pp 75-76, 157-59.

Referenceback to top

Piper 1963
D. Piper, Catalogue of the Seventeenth Century Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery 1625-1714, 1963, p 342-43.

Provenanceback to top

Brig. H. D. K. Money, Omagh, by descent from John Douglas, 1721-1807, Bishop of Salisbury;1 Christie’s, 5 March 1954, lot 97, bought in[?]; purchased 1955.

1 Brig. Money wrote that ‘the picture came to me from my great great grandfather John Douglas, Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of the Garter’ (letter on file of 14 October 1955).


This extended catalogue entry is from the National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, National Portrait Gallery, 2009, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.

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