Rachel Russell, Duchess of Devonshire (1674 – 1725)
Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646 - London 1723)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1692
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2337 x 1422 mm (92 x 56 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
NT 1129135
Caption
Rachel Russell, Duchess of Devonshire was the daughter of William, Lord Russell (‘The Patriot’) (1639-1683), and sister of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford (1680-1711). She married William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire (1673-1729) in 1688. The 6th Duke said of her: “This lady brought the quality of silence into the family - whether it was natural to her, or assumed from having lived in troublous time, I know not, but silent she was, and obtained great credit from being so.” The picture was presumably painted fairly soon after the sitter’s marriage in 1688, probably in 1692 - when Kneller was knighted - or just after.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Rachel Russell, Duchess of Devonshire (1674 – 1725) by Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646/9 - London 1723), circa 1692. Inscribed above train, lower left, in black: GKneller Eques.f [G & K in ligature]. A full- length portrait, standing on a terrace near a lion fountain, wearing a grey dress with blue scarf, holding a basket of flowers; landscape right.
Provenance
In Swift 1811 inventory and thence by descent until, following the death of Edward William Spencer Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire (1895 - 1950), Hardwick Hall and its contents were accepted by HM Treasury in part payment of death duties and transferred to the National Trust, in 1959
Credit line
Hardwick Hall, The Devonshire Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
lower left, GKneller Eques. f
Makers and roles
Sir Godfrey Kneller (Lübeck 1646 - London 1723), artist