John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
1 portrait
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- Extended Catalogue Entry
© National Portrait Gallery, London
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
by Joseph Highmore
oil on canvas, 1740
48 in. x 36 in. (1219 mm x 914 mm)
Given by an anonymous donor, 1923
Primary Collection
NPG 1977
Sitterback to top
- John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), First Lord of the Admiralty. Sitter associated with 25 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Joseph Highmore (1692-1780), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 54 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Aged nineteen, Sandwich made an intrepid Grand Tour to Italy, Greece, Turkey and Egypt. This portrait celebrates his adventure and shows him wearing the exotic fur-lined costume - complete with turban and dagger - that he had adopted when travelling in the East. His experiences and interests are seen in the view of Istanbul's Haghia Sophia and the drawing of the Pyramids on the table.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Ingamells, John, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, 2004, p. 418
- Ribeiro, Aileen, The Gallery of Fashion, 2000, p. 16
- Riding, Jacqueline, Basic instincts : love, passion and violence in the art of Joseph Highmore, 2017, p. 98 number 84
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 547
Subjects & Themesback to top
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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