James Harris







© National Portrait Gallery, London
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James Harris
by Charles (Cantelowe, Cantlo) Bestland, after Joseph Highmore
stipple engraving, 1740
Given by Henry Witte Martin, 1861
Reference Collection
NPG D3231
Sitterback to top
- James Harris (1709-1780), Philosopher, critic, grammarian and politician; MP for Christchurch. Sitter in 3 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- Charles (Cantelowe, Cantlo) Bestland (1763-1837), Painter. Artist associated with 25 portraits.
- Joseph Highmore (1692-1780), Painter. Artist associated with 54 portraits.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Ingamells, John, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, 2004, p. 237
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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