Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke

1 portrait

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke

studio of Michael Dahl
oil on canvas, circa 1737-1743
49 1/2 in. x 39 1/2 in. (1257 mm x 1003 mm)
Purchased, 1891
Primary Collection
NPG 872

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Michael Dahl (1659-1743), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 166 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Although the handling of this portrait is somewhat hard and mechanical, the design is undoubtedly Michael Dahl's. The sitter wears the black brocaded gown of the Lord Chancellor, an office he received in 1737. The chancellor's purse is on the table. The armchair is surmounted with an earl's coronet, apparently an alteration by a later hand (Hardwicke became earl in 1754). More detailed information on this portrait is available in a National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue, John Kerslake's Early Georgian Portraits (1977, out of print).

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Events of 1737back to top

Current affairs

Death of Queen Caroline, wife of George II, on 20 November.
Frederick, Prince of Wales quarrels with his father. The king expels him from court for criticising the government.
Theatrical Licensing Act introduces censorship, requiring plays to be submitted to the Lord Chancellor for approval and reducing the number of theatres.

Art and science

French portrait-painter Jean-Baptiste Van Loo arrives in England where he soon attracts prominent sitters such as Robert Walpole, Colley Cibber and William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield.
Venus passes in front of Mercury and is witnessed by amateur astronomer John Bevis at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. It remains the only such planetary occlusion that has been directly observed.

International

Colonist William Byrd founds Richmond, Virginia.
French Académie Royale de Peintre et de Sculpture begins its programme of public exhibitions.
Florence loses her independence when the last Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany dies.


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