The Talman Family Group
1 portrait matching these criteria:
- subject matching 'Family portraits'
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- Extended Catalogue Entry
The Talman Family Group
by Giuseppe Grisoni
oil on canvas, 1718-1719
40 3/8 in. x 28 1/2 in. (1024 mm x 724 mm)
Purchased, 1985
Primary Collection
NPG 5781
Sittersback to top
- Frances Talman (née Cockayne) (died 1733), Wife of John Talman. Sitter in 1 portrait. Identify
- Hannah Talman, Wife of William Talman. Sitter in 1 portrait. Identify
- John Talman (1677-1726), Amateur artist, draughtsman and antiquary; son of William Talman. Sitter in 1 portrait. Identify
- William Talman (1650-1719), Architect. Sitter in 1 portrait. Identify
Artistback to top
- Giuseppe Grisoni (1699-1769), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 3 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Painted around 1718, Giuseppe Grisoni's portrait of the Talman Family is a strange combination of old and new styles. The foreground is like a conversation piece, the type of portrait that was fashionable for group portraits from the 1730s. The background, however, with its allegorical subtext and mythological characters, is typically Baroque - a continental style that was rarely used in British portraits by the eighteenth century.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Ingamells, John, Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, 2009, p. 279
- Ribeiro, Aileen, The Gallery of Fashion, 2000, p. 102
- Ribeiro, Aileen; Blackman, Cally, A Portrait of Fashion: Six Centuries of Dress at the National Portrait Gallery, 2015, p. 119
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 727
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1718back to top
Current affairs
Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland becomes first Lord of the Treasury, the most influential political post in Britain at this time.Transportation Act creates the punishment of penal transportation as an alternative to the death penalty.
Marrow Controversy; an ecclesiastical dispute breaks out in Scotland over the doctrine of atonement.
Art and science
Proper motion of the stars is discovered by Astronomer Royal Edmond Halley.Inventor James Puckle patents an early form of machine gun known as the Puckle Gun.
International
Charles XII of Sweden dies in mysterious circumstances and is succeeded by his sister Ulrika Eleonora.Quadruple Alliance formed as the Holy Roman Empire joins the Triple Alliance to prevent the Spanish changing the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht. War of the Quadruple Alliance begins against Spain until 1720. George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington is made Admiral of the Fleet and thwarts Spanish attempts to take Sicily at the Battle of Cape Passaro.
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