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Dorothy Spencer (née Sidney), Countess of Sunderland

5 of 9 portraits of Dorothy Spencer (née Sidney), Countess of Sunderland

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Dorothy Spencer (née Sidney), Countess of Sunderland

after Sir Anthony van Dyck
line engraving, 1711
7 3/4 in. x 4 1/2 in. (196 mm x 113 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D28409

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 1023 portraits, Sitter associated with 30 portraits.

Events of 1711back to top

Current affairs

Queen Anne dismisses from office her closest companion, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, over disagreements principally concerning matters of state. Sarah's husband, the Duke of Marlborough, is also dismissed, a victim of ambition and political intrigue.
The South Sea Company is launched to undertake the nation's debt.

Art and science

Composer, George Frideric Handel's first London opera Rinaldo is staged at the Queen's Theatre and privately performed for the queen on her birthday at St. James's Palace. The following year Handel would leave the Hanoverian court to settle in London.
Essayists, Sir Richard Steele and Joseph Addison establish The Spectator.

International

Secret peace negotiations between France and England resume to end the War of the Spanish Succession. Lord treasurer, Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford sends poet and diplomat, Matthew Prior, to France accompanied by Louis XIV's secret negotiator, François Gaultier, to conduct talks directly with the French king.

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