Robert Blake
3 of 5 portraits by Thomas Preston
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Robert Blake
by Thomas Preston, after Unknown artist
mezzotint, etching and engraving, published 1740
14 3/8 in. x 9 3/4 in. (365 mm x 249 mm) plate size; 15 3/4 in. x 10 3/4 in. (401 mm x 273 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D31811
Artistsback to top
- Thomas Preston (died 1759 or 1785), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 5 portraits.
- Unknown artist, Artist. Artist or producer associated with 6578 portraits.
Related worksback to top
- NPG D1072: Robert Blake (from same plate)
- NPG D19325: Robert Blake (from same plate)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1740back to top
Current affairs
The song Rule, Britannia! by Thomas Arne is performed for the first time at Cliveden, the country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales.A now discredited account by antiquarian William Stukely asserts that Stonehenge was built by druids.
Art and science
Samuel Richardson publishes the first two volumes of Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, the best-selling novel of the period.Artists Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough both arrive in London. Reynolds is apprenticed to the leading portrait-painter Thomas Hudson, while Gainsborough begins his artistic training with the French engraver and illustrator Hubert-Francois Gravelot.
International
Death of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and the succession of his eldest daughter Maria Térèsa heralds the start of the War of the Austrian Succession. Britain, already fighting Spain (in the War of Jenkin's Ear), is drawn into the wider conflict as an ally of Austria until 1748.Frederick II becomes King of Prussia.
Pope Benedict XIV succeeds Pope Clement XII as the 247th pope.
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