Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork

1 portrait

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork

by Jonathan Richardson
oil on canvas, circa 1717-1719
57 1/2 in. x 46 in. (1461 mm x 1165 mm)
Purchased with help from the Art Fund and Dr D.M. McDonald, 1970
Primary Collection
NPG 4818

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Jonathan Richardson (1667-1745), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 126 portraits, Sitter in 8 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The pavilion in the background is the 'Bagnio' or bath-house designed by Burlington for his gardens at Chiswick House.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Smartify image discovery app
  • The British Portrait, 1660-1960, 1991, p. 70 number 65
  • Kerslake, John, Early Georgian Portraits, 1977, p. 29
  • Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery: An Illustrated Guide, 2000, p. 86
  • Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery, 1997, p. 86 Read entry

    Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, was one of the greatest and most influential 'milordi' of the early eighteenth century. Having inherited substantial estates in Ireland, he took himself off on the Grand Tour and became infatuated with the ideals of Palladian architecture. On his return, he began to disseminate his ideas through designs and publications, and most of all through the architecture of Chiswick House, a villa that he regarded as a model of neo-Palladian ideals. This portrait shows him looking languid and supercilious, with the bagnio he designed for Chiswick in the background. It is always assumed that it was painted by Jonathan Richardson, who was interested in the revival of British portrait painting for reasons closely comparable to Lord Burlington's zeal for Palladianism: a belief that Britain's wealth and status as a maritime power should prompt British citizens to devote resources to the support of the arts.

  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 90

Placesback to top

Events of 1717back to top

Current affairs

Count Carl Gyllenborg, the Swedish ambassador, is arrested in London and imprisoned over a plot to assist the Pretender James Stuart.
Bangorian controversy; a theological argument within the Church of England is initiated by the posthumous publication of a treatise written by George Hicks, Bishop of Thetford.
First Freemason's Grand Lodge is founded in London.

Art and science

Actor-manager Colley Cibber stages The Loves of Mars and Venus at the Drury Lane Theatre; the first ballet to be performed in Britain.
Composer George Frideric Handel's Water Music is performed for the first time on a barge on the River Thames for George I.


International

John Law establishes the Mississippi Company to develop trade in Louisiania for France. His scheme results in the 'Mississippi Bubble'.
Triple Alliance formed between England, France and the Dutch Republic to uphold the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and maintain peace in Europe.
Competition between British and Dutch in factories on the coast of Mauritania results in the first 'gum war' over the lucrative trade in gum arabic.

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